I saw you as I passed the bathroom. Tugging at your hair and throwing it up and down and dividing it into sections. You’ve got a lot of hair – I know, I’ve tugged at it myself, and brushed it and washed and conditioned, and coloured, and styled it a thousand times or more.

“do you need a hand?”

“No, I’ve got it!”

I inhaled.  A silent thought… You’ve got it? – but you were doing pom-poms, a style that’s pretty tricky to get even and straight and has always been a favourite of mine to do for you. You’ve got it. I knew you’d got it, but it was still bittersweet for me.

I deal with these things – the firsts or the lasts – depending on which side you’re viewing from, by documenting them. So I ran for my camera and stood back, marvelling at how capable you’ve become, watching you figure it out. Getting the bobbles in level on both sides, then winding your hair around and around, and around again. And then pinning it in with precision.

Moments later…  “can you just help me on the back?” and I exhaled.  You might not need me to help for much longer, but there’s never any harm in asking for a hand to get things just right.

And that’s the thing as you go through life my little love, you’ll be strong, and capable and resilient, but sometimes you might still need your Mama, and that’s OK.

PS you rocked those pom poms!

This post is part of Artifact motherhood, a beautiful collaboration of artists/mothers from around the world sharing stories of the joys and struggles of our journey, our hopes and dreams for our children, with little nuggets of wisdom here and there. These are more than photographs with dates written on the back. These are the artifact we are leaving behind for children and the generations to come.

Please follow around the circle by visiting the wonderful Cindy over HERE

Until next time, Kirsty xx

November 2020 | Cambridgeshire / Yorkshire | England