Tonight is a night to remember

I'm posting this maybe even more for my own sake than anything else, so I can look back on this later. My son (8 mo today) is teething with his top front teeth - the right one poked through a day or so ago and the left isn't far behind, I can kinda see it, so I knew we'd be in for a couple tougher nights. No big deal. We sleep trained and have gotten great night's rest for months now so the occasional few nights where we wake up a few times doesn't really phase us anymore. Sure enough, two hours after we put him to sleep he woke up screaming in pain. We have him Tylenol and his dad rocked him, but he was still wiggly and fussing after a good 10 minutes. I stepped in and he just curled up into me. Whether it was time for him to just settle down anyway or whether he just wanted mom I'll probably never know, but it feels nice to think he just wanted to be with me (since he's spent all day every day trying to wiggle out of my grasp for months now). He fell asleep listening to my heart beat with his head pressed against my breast in the rocking chair, as we had done so so many sleepless nights that feel like a lifetime ago. His sweet little feet dangled in my lap, and his perfect chubby hand relaxed exactly over mine. Small versions of my own fingers splayed out over the back of my palm. He smiled in his sleep and looked exactly like his dad. I wept silently and rocked him long after he had fallen back asleep. I know there will be nights in the future when he needs me, when he wants to snuggle, but I can't help the creeping knowledge that the days like this are numbered. Being back at work means I really only get to get him to bed at night - long gone are the days spent nursing and snuggling on mat leave. And while they felt like a sleep deprived fever dream as they happened, they flew by.I don't know what time will bring, what struggles our family will face as our son grows. I hope so much for him to have an easier go of it than I did; I pray I don't make it harder for him. I hope his dad and I can work to keep our marriage a living breathing example of what joy life can bring, and that he has lots of siblings to grow up with. I hope I don't miss too many moments while I'm tethered to a desk. I hope he knows that his father and I spend our days working for him and wishing we were home.But tonight, he needed me. And I needed him. And those needs were met. And it was a win.Tl;Dr - parenting makes me cry all the time. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2qz931X