A friend had a baby today. The picture she posted was precious, and made this mama do what I always do when I see a newborn. I closed my eyes and remembered what it felt like to hold one of my babies for the first time.
The relief.
The joy.
The fear.
The fear that I wouldn't get it right.
And those memories drove me to finish a song I started writing a few months ago. My kids and I had taken an impromptu trip to the park at the lake, a favorite place to go to just be by ourselves and enjoy each other. My oldest had brought his guitar that day. He started strumming, and I started humming, and before long, a song was birthed.
I finished it today, remembering that beautifully terrifying moment when you hold a perfect bundle of newborness in your arms and realize you are responsible for so very much that is important.
And so this song, still in a raw recorded version and done in just a few moments today when I could get the kids quiet enough to be able to press record, is my gift to the mama who holds her newborn tonight. It's also a future gift to my daughter, as it's something I want her to know someday when she holds her own little one and experiences the fear that she won't get it all right.
Because the truth is, you won't.
But, you'll get a lot of things right.
Like loving. And loving again when it's hard. And loving some more.
And that goes a long way in this thing called motherhood.
To listen, click here.
"Hold Those Babies Tight"
Mindy von Atzigen copyright 2014
My little girl became a mom today,
The baby I held is holding her own.
And if there's one thing I could give,
If there's one thing I could say, I'd say
Honey, you might not always get it right,
But there's one thing, darling, that you can do tonight,
Just hold that baby tight.
You're gonna sing a lot of songs,
Teach a lot of lessons,
Cook a lot of meals,
And clean a lot of messes.
And honey, you might not always get it right,
But there's one thing, darling, that you can do each night,
Just hold those babies tight.
