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“You Won’t Realize You’ve Changed Your Final Diaper Until You Clean Out the Last One’s PJ Drawer”: Mom Reminisces on the Day Her ‘Last Child’ Is Born

The journey of motherhood is filled with joys and sorrow, triumphs and failures, baby giggles and dirty diapers. Through the good, the bad and the ugly, parenting is often a thankless job of long days and sleepless nights—but the struggle can hardly compare to the sheer joy that fills a mother’s heart as she watches her children grow.

However, it’s hard to deny that there’s a particular emptiness left when the “last child” makes his or her way to adulthood. Suddenly, those Pampers, sippy cups, carseats and Tonka trucks all start to hold a new sense of nostalgia as you retire them for good. As you stow away each item and memory, it marks the completion of wildly beautiful adventure that you wouldn’t trade for the world.

In a post by Suburban Tormoil submitted to Love What Matters, one proud mother illustrates this picture in vivid, living color. Her powerful post takes parents through the emotional journey of “lasts” that is striking a chord with mamas across the web, encouraging them to make every moment count. Most of all, her words are a heartwarming reminder of the God-sent blessings children are to our lives:

On the day that your last child is born, you’ll find yourself filled with a jumble of emotions.

You’ll feel relief to have finally given birth, pride and joy in the healthy baby in your arms — and sorrow at the realization that you’ll never again experience the primeval miracle of growing a baby inside your body.

From that day onward, this strange brew of feelings will remain inside you — because every single one of your youngest child’s firsts will also be your lasts.

When he outgrows his sleepers, you’ll no longer save them for the next baby. When he abandons his toys, you’ll give most of them away. You’ll be glad to have some extra space in the closet, but you’ll also have a moment at the grocery store when you realize you have no reason to be standing in front of the new teething toys in aisle 14 — your last one is done with those. And therefore, so are you.

One day, you’ll get rid of all the bottles in the cabinet, and that will feel strange since baby bottles have lined the bottom shelf for forever. You’ll do the same a year later with the the rubber-tipped baby spoons, and then the sippy cups, and the bunny-stamped plates and bowls. All these little things you had come to take for granted will suddenly, shockingly, no longer be needed. And removing them will make your heart break just a tiny bit.

You won’t realize you’ve changed your final diaper until the day that you clean out the last one’s pajama drawer, find a stash of overnight pull-up pants, and realize he hasn’t needed one in at least six months. You’ll celebrate the end of a very smelly era with a glass of wine after the kids go to bed. Diaper changing totally sucked.

Kelsey Straeter
Kelsey Straeter
Kelsey is an editor at Outreach. She’s passionate about fear fighting, freedom writing, and the pursuit of excellence in the name of crucifying perfectionism. Glitter is her favorite color, 2nd only to pink, and 3rd only to pink glitter.

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