Twelve years ago today my one and only decided to allow us to bring him into the world. I use the word allow, because he was not going to take the initiative. After 36 hours of labor, 6 hours of active labor (pushing) and 3 hours of crowning the doctor needed to pull him out. He simply would not be pushed out. A cesarean was not an option as he was hanging out (stuck) in the birth canal for 3 hours; ergo, we could see and touch his head. Remarkably, there were really no complications; he was just happy hanging out inside me. He was in the moment.

From the instant I went into labor, the writing was on the wall; Mathew did not and still does not do transitions well. He was and is always in the moment. Luckily, he doesn’t make a big fuss, he just says, “in a minute.” Moreover, I have found that his concept of a minute has nothing to do with 60 seconds. If the truth be told, waiting on him tends to irritate me at times; however, I am very jealous of this trait. I am always aware of the next step or rather the next 10 steps and this tends to feel like I am always more in the future than in the moment.  It must be so magical to be 100% in moment, not bothered by what needs to happen next. He hardly ever hears a timer go off, no matter how annoying the sound is, now that’s concentration! Fortunately for us, he never gets irritated when we remind him to move on. When he was little, I would just pick him up, sometimes upside down and move him to the next task. He might say, “hey” but once he was in the new place he eagerly refocused on the new situation. The same can be said today, but he is too big for me to pick up anymore, so more reminders and sometimes threats are involved. Hey, a parent’s gotta do what a parent’s gotta do, and if limiting computer time stimulates movement, I will use it.

Although it was a long labor, Mathew gave us the first of countless gifts with his arrival on March 1^st. His ability to be in the moment, delaying his birth throughout the entire day of February 29^th made parenting a little bit less complicated. I remember people claiming how wonderful having a Leap year baby would be. Frankly, it just seemed like one more decision among the countless decisions we would need to make parenting. I am so happy that Mathew chose to wait a little bit that day so we can now celebrate his 12^th year around the sun and not his 3rd. Here’s to being in the moment! May Mathew never lose this glorious quality and may I find it.

Happy Birthday Sweetness!