Her Little Shadows

This evening I was standing at the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables for dinner with my 9 month pregnant belly getting in the way and my two little guys running circles around the kitchen table, bumping into my legs every second or third lap when the poem Her Little Shadows came to mind. 

My mom found this poem years ago in an old book entitled Dear Mother: Beautiful Writings of Praise, Love & Gratitude. She shared it with me when my oldest son first started crawling after I had told her how endearing it was that he liked to sit on my feet whenever I stood at the kitchen counter. 

Now that I have two little ones and another one on the way I feel like I need these little reminders to enjoy this phase of my life even more. Regardless of how exhausted or overwhelmed I may feel at certain moments throughout the day, on a whole, my boys are such a joy to me and, like the mother in this poem, I never want to lose sight of what a blessing it is to be a mother. My children truly are the sunshine in my life. 

Her Little Shadows

by Martha Wadsworth

I saw a young mother 

With eyes full of laughter, 

And two little shadows

Came following after. 

Wherever she moved, 

They were always right there - 

Holding on to her skirts, 

Hanging on to her chair, 

Before her, behind her - 

An adhesive pair. 

"Don't you ever get weary

As day after day

Your two little tagalongs

Get in your way?"

She smiled as she shook 

Her pretty young head, 

And I'll always remember 

The words that she said: 

"It's good to have shadows

That run when you run, 

That laugh when you're happy 

And hum when you hum - 

For you only have shadows

When your life's filled with sun!"

image source