Just Us Two
A poem from the heart of a toddler mom
Time is moving too fast.
Time is moving too slow.
I hold you and beg you to stay this small.
I close my eyes and imagine the person you’ll be.
The same little questions, all the time.
But I blink and you’ve learned something new.
What more you could say if you knew the right words.
Like glue, you stick to me and at times it’s too much.
But one day you’ll run free and not look back for me.
Your hair, wild and full.
Your eyes, curious and wandering.
Your voice, sweet and pure.
Your hands, busy and warm.
Your feet, loud and fast.
Your smile, wide and silly.
Your heart, beating and brimming.
Would you give me more time for things to stay like this?
Would you move less and remain this close?
Would you press pause on our life this way?
Would you be proud to hold my hand forever?
You’ll grow and learn.
Have more to say and a deeper depth of feeling.
You’ll explore and rise.
Have paths to travel and a passion that calls you.
You’ll fall and hurt.
Have lessons that break and mold you.
I’ll watch and know.
You were mine for a time.
Only mine inside our home’s safe walls.
A moment in time that felt so long, so fast.
I’ll watch and know.
You were mine for a bit.
Your number one, your shield, your haven.
A feeling only a mother could know.
I’ll watch and know.
I still am all that.
But you’re going, going, gone.
And I’m waiting, waiting, here.
-Written by Ariana Becker, a mom-of-one, expecting her second child in February 2022
