40 Days and 40 nights

Oliver is 40 days old today.

In many faith and cultural traditions, mothers are encouraged—and sometimes required—to rest the entirety of the first 40 days. I didn’t have the luxury. But there are different types of rest.

Like the rest a mama gets from watching her baby rest.

Oliver ~ 12 Days Old

There’s rest in noticing small details.

~ The laundry is cute again ~

Movement is rest when your legs take you to a beautiful spot with beautiful people.

~ Neighborhood walk, early November 2012 ~

So, despite my inability (and even my refusal) to be still for the past 40 days, moments when I was spellbound and amazed found me.

~ On Daddy's Shoulder ~

Dictates and rules regarding rest can be good. They honor real needs and they recognize what mamas experience. But they fail in one small way. The best rest of all these past 40 days was the rest which caught me by total surprise.

They were the unplanned moments when I was hushed by my child.