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A Transition for Both of Us

2014 April 19
by WWGD

WhatWouldGwynethDo

We are sitting here on a late Saturday afternoon, waiting anxiously for the doorbell to ring.

All of us.

You see, Kai’s “big boy” bed is arriving today. It’s really just a conversion kit for the beloved crib that has seen us through seven years of long nights, sleep training, tranquil afternoon naps, happy mornings…with two amazing babies.

The crib that seemed so big in the beginning, swallowing our tiny swaddled little ones whole. When Little D first came home from the hospital, that crib was safely positioned right in our room, despite its size, where I could watch her breathe and feel her energy at all times. Years later, it’s on an entirely different floor from us, but we know it is still keeping our son safe and happy. The crib that has seen so many accidents, nursed so many viruses, lulled many a cranky afternoon into a deep sleep.

But now, to him, it’s a whole new bed. His big boy bed. His first step into real independence within our home. His latest step in catching up to his big sister. His everything.

For me, it’s a sad transition. This is likely the last crib these walls will see. The last baby we will rock to sleep every night, the last baby we will sleep train, the last baby who will call us from behind his bars in the early morning, waiting anxiously for us to come and rescue him and set him free on the world he was dreaming of so fondly. The last “safe” place where we can keep our baby protected and coddled and (semi) controlled, under our watchful eye.

The last of the baby anything.

But for him, it’s the first of so much.

And with that, this quiet Saturday afternoon is about to turn into a very exciting Saturday night.

For all of us.

 

2 Responses
  1. April 25, 2014

    What a beautiful piece. I recently graduated my second daughter to her big girl bed and felt the same bittersweetness about the transition. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I had to move her to make room for her baby sister (the third little girl to sleep in our crib). Reading your post made me a little sad thinking of the day when all this baby stuff will be over…although for now it seems light years away.

    • WWGD permalink*
      April 27, 2014

      Ha, yes. I have those moments too – feels like you will forever be in that particular stage and then when it passes, you mourn it. I think you get particularly attached to the crib because so many of them get passed down through every kid. It’s a common thread that means so much. Good luck to you with your third!

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