I have measured out my life in coffee spoons – TS Eliot
I have measured out motherhood in Lego bricks
Across the floor and beneath my toes
By the pregnancy app that tells me each week
Which fruit’s inside, as baby grows.
I have measured out motherhood in feeding times
Left boob, right boob, burp and spew
In the hours left before dad gets home
In the app recording every poo.
I have measured out motherhood in takeaway coffees
That white cup of heaven that perks me up
In the number of times I’ve read Where’s Spot?
And bent to retrieve that damn sippy cup.
I have measured out motherhood in baby smiles
In milky teeth through tiny gums
Thermometer numbers and Nurofen doses
and friendships formed with other mums.
I have measured out motherhood in clothing sizes
4 zeros, 3 zeros, 2, then one,
In your ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes
In the loads of washing I haven’t done.
I have measured out motherhood on percentile charts
Your chubbiness plotted, a dot on a graph
In the hours of blissful, silent napping
And all the ways I make you laugh.
I have measured out motherhood in sloppy kisses
In mouthfuls of solids and bottles too
How old you were when you said your first word
And how many times you’ve slept all night through.
I’ve measured out motherhood a day at a time
In learning curves, in peaks and troughs
The ones where I’m nailing this mothering thing
And those when I feel just barely enough.
I’ve measured out motherhood in love that’s endless
Fierce and raw, proud, aglow,
A love that makes it all worthwhile
How do you measure motherhood?
