Naveen Matthew Matthew McNamara

With your first child you're more willing to let time pass. You find yourself welcoming the future, checklist in hand, ticking each milestone off. Walking-check, talking -check, potty training -check. And when your first isn't hitting those benchmarks according to the schedules books you've read set, or as quickly as your friends' kids did you feel a bit panicked.

With your first you are in a hurry.

But with your last? With that last baby you stand with your back to the door, refusing to look up at the clock. You let things be. You're in no rush to see the perfect step, could care less if they haven't shown interest in the toilet. You refuse to correct mispronounced words because well, because you know with real heartache how fleeting it all is.