Stop Making Memories

I'm not even going to try

In 2024, I had to periodically remind myself that it is enough that I’m living through life.

I don’t mean ‘live through it’ in a Courtney Love-ravaged-scream for survival. This isn’t about making it through the difficult times, although that has been relevant to 2024; I’m not sure there’s ever been a year free from sorrow, challenge, or complaint.

What I did do a lot of in 2024 was people-watching. Specifically, the two little people that came from my womb and who are changing at an alarm rate. I’m torn between wanting to be as present with them as possible, the requirements of work/life/admin, and searching for distraction because sometimes (often) parenting is boring as hell.

[I recently had a poem on this theme published in Unbroken Journal. More on that another time.]

And often I feel guilty, because I want to remember it all. The exact way their lips puff out when they are in a deep sleep, the gummy grin, the way they dance, the exact pitch of their giggles. In times gone by did parents feel such a pressing need to capture it all?