Now that you sleep through the night and even sleep late on the weekends, don’t forget what you went through before these easier days arrived. Don’t take for granted the help you get in the kitchen – the prep, cooking and washing of dishes. And don’t let a date night slip past that you aren’t grateful you no longer have to pay a sitter. Because while you have it “easy” now (I put that in quotes, because raising tween and teen girls is anything but easy I’m sure) there are many mamas out there who feel the same pains you felt not so long ago.

So please don’t forget.

Don’t forget those sleepless night. The rocking and singing. The aching back. And then needing to entertain your children all day on so little sleep.

Don’t forget the rush to get dinner on the table when you were a working mom. Or the attempts to get dinner on the table after a day with your children who were whining and clinging to your legs. And remember most nights your efforts were met with tantrums and refusals to eat your meals.

Don’t forget how few date nights you had because finding and paying a babysitter just seamed like too much work.

Don’t forget how much you just wanted a day off.  A day at home with no children around to do as you pleased.

Remember how hard it was to clean. When you worked, you’d rather spend time with your kids, when you were home, they got in the way.

Don’t forget the public tantrums. The stares. Wondering how to diffuse your little one while the world was watching.

Don’t forget the longing you had for just a small break. A break from the physically and mentally draining task of raising little children. I know you loved them, but the days were long, and so were the nights, and sometimes it just wore you too thin.

Don’t forget.

Because there are mamas out there exactly where you used to be. Alone, no family around, struggling to make it through their days.  Trapped and drowning in hopelessness brought on by postpartum depression, or just lost in the mundane. There are working moms, and stay at home moms, and single moms who are worn too thin. They love their babies with all their hearts, but they need a break.  They need a hot meal delivered, a Saturday afternoon alone, a date night, help with the cleaning.

They need you.  They need you to remember.

You can’t forget the harder days you left not so long ago, because it means you’re forgetting about them. Don’t forget those mamas. Rally around them, seek them out, love them.  Love them well. Love them with food and time and a chance to recharge.  Love them with words and time and hope. Love them well.

Sincerely,

Your past self.  The one almost out of the toddler years, dreaming of the “easier” years to come.

P.S. I’m going to want help in the teen years too aren’t I?