At twelve
One minute she is galloping
her grown-up body
through long-grassed paddocks
neighing like a horse and laughing
as the dog snaps her heels
or squatting next to the muddy dam
whilst fishing for tadpoles and frog spawn
or digging up worms.
The next minute she is clip-clopping
in high-heeled shoes
straightening her long mane of hair
and thinking about colour
or washing a mud-mask from her face
digging dirt from her fingernails
then polishing and filing them
into an adult shape.
“I know now that everything changes, and it’s usually too quickly.”*
Having children reminds us of the changing nature of ourselves and our world. Before children entered my life, years could go by and I would usually have external events to mark them. Now, years are remembered for my children’s birth or ages, and our experiences together. (And the time before the birth of my first child feels like a thousand years ago!). Their growth seems rapid and shockingly sudden – and my time with them is all the more precious for knowing that.
* © from 'Being Mummy' by Anne‑marie Taplin, published April 2007