NO MORE
No more bottles to make
No more diapers to change
No more sleep to lose
No more life to rearrange
No more spit-up spots on my clothes
No more tantrums to endure
No more food messes to clean
No more fevers to cure
No more rocking until asleep
No more ni-nights to find
No more bribing them to eat
No more trying to change their mind
No more watching them try to stand
No more seeing them fall
No more trying to understand what they say
No more going to see when they call
No more teaching them their numbers
No more buckling them into a car seat
No more cringing when they want to help
No more praying they will eat
No more clutter
No more mess
No more sippy cups
No more cries of distress
No more seeing them fall off their bike
No more fear when they run into the street
No more anxiety the first day of school
No more wondering how tough are bare feet
No more scooter races
No more hide and seek
No more Frisbees on the roof
No more water guns that leak
No more hoping they pick the right friends
No more anguish when they drop a fly ball
No more pain when they are sick
No more erasing writing on the wall
No more trying to wake them up
No more trying to calm them down
No more staying up all night Christmas eve
No more trying to eradicate a frown
No more pain when they are hurt
No more dealing with the next world’s end
No more shopping to find just the right thing
No more trying to keep up with the next trend
No more math problems to solve
No more science projects to do
No more instructions to read and understand
No more assignments due
No more seeing them notice the opposite sex
No more panic when middle school arrives
No more wanting to go with them to school
No more wondering how a parent survives
No more monitoring phone bills each day
No more cringing when they ask for “the” car
No more praying when they go on a date
No more wishing you could watch from afar
No more sleepless nights while they’re out
No more wondering what’s in store
No more nightmares about college costs
No more wondering who they adore
No more disappointments
No more broken hearts
No more failures to deal with
No more false starts
No more cringing when they ask for “a” car
No more denial that they are nearly grown
No more dread when you can see the end near
No more tears when losing your own
No more goodbyes
No more watching them leave
No more stemming the tears
No more need to grieve
No more eating together
No more plans to make
No more just hearing their voice
No more trips to take
No more falling asleep on the couch
No more laughter to share
No more movies to watch together
No more sharing a prayer
No more watching them head off to prom
No more seeing them every day
No more wiping away their tears
No more pleasure in watching them play
No more time to correct mistakes
No more time to do more
No more chance to parent better
No more time to restore
No more hearing a childlike “I love you”
No more cuddling them on your lap
No more seeing their face light up
No more watching them nap
No more feeling the warmth of their embrace
No more seeing them succeed
No more hearing them say “thanks”
No more of all the things you need
No more joy when they discover
No more pride when they graduate
No more listening to your advice
No more hearing sorry when they’re late
No more seeing in them the light of first love
No more teasing in fun
No more hearing of them being kind
No more worry of being outdone
Now they are gone
The nest empty and bare
It seems so incredibly quiet
As if they were never there
Things will never be the same
Those days just memories sweet
But if I could do it all over again
I’d do it in a heartbeat
The sentiment that spurred this poem is not uncommon.
It just hit me really hard one day and it all rushed out of me and onto paper.