When Megan, my oldest child, was less than a week old, I sat outside with her on our second-floor balcony. I was just days into the whole motherhood experience. My entire world seemed as though it had been turned upside down. Though I adored my tiny baby with all the tender feelings of a new mother, I felt tired and overwhelmed. What I really wanted was a full night's sleep, and a few hours to myself.

From my balcony, I watched a young foal playing in the nearby field. I knew this baby horse was just weeks old, and in a surprising feeling of envy and certainly a postpartum mental state, I couldn't clear from my mind the imaginations of how much easier my life would be if Megan and I were horses.

I envisioned my tiny, helpless daughter being able to feed herself from nearby grass fields, and come to me when she wanted to eat without tears and screaming at 2 a.m. I couldn't help but think how much cheaper (and cleaner) it would be to not have a dirty diaper (and complete outfits) to change every couple of hours. As hormone-induced tears fell down my cheek, I looked at that mother horse, her baby horse grazing 20 feet away from her, and surmised that she certainly had it easier than me.

Last month, this same daughter — now days into being a new teenager — and I drove a typical route by a horse field we pass daily. A tiny baby horse feeding from its mother caught my attention. Recalling having driven by this pasture just the day before, I knew in an instant that baby horse was pretty darn new.

Though none of our horse-loving boys were with us, I immediately stopped the car and did my best to capture the hours-old foal with my cellphone camera.

It wasn't just for my boys I was trying to capture the perfect picture; it was for me, a picture of perspective.

Upon hearing about the new horse, my boys were anxious to visit it. Each time we drove by, the baby horse was laying down in the field sleeping. After about the third time of the horse sleeping, I optimistically suggested to my 4-year-old, Joshua, "Maybe tonight after dinner, he will be awake."

That evening, as the clean-up from dinner still sat waiting to be done, Joshua reminded me about the horse. Choosing in that moment to leave what needed to be done until later, I announced to my children we were going on a walk.

What appropriate timing! As I watched my 10- and 4-year-old boys on their bikes ahead of us approach the fence, I saw the baby horse. Not only was it up and walking, it was right next to the fence. A perfect view! The smiles on my boys' faces told me it had been well worth the wait.

As my husband and I stood back, we observed four of our five children chatter about the horse. The horse's age, name and size were all up for discussion and debate. It was one of those moments that no ticket to an amusement park or any entrance fee at an establishment could provide.

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Joy, wonder and awe filled their little heads.

In an instant, my mind took me back to the memory of my post-partum- weepy-I-just-had-my-first-baby-and-wished-I-was-a-horse-evening.

As I watched four of my children ooh and ahh over the baby foal, I remembered clearly the fall day 13 years ago when my post-partum- weepy-I-just-had-my-first-baby-and-wished-I-was-a-horse-thoughts were paramount in my mind.

I looked at my young children. Though still very dependent, the days of them being as dependent as that newborn baby 13 years ago are gone. I no longer have a baby waking me up at nights. No longer do I change a diaper every couple of hours. And for the most part, most of them can use words instead of tears and screams to express their needs and wants.

I looked across the pasture to the baby foal and caught the view of the mother horse standing protectively nearby. I looked again at my four children with a smile of contentment on my face. In that moment, I knew I could now honestly say, I'm glad I'm not a horse.

Tiffany Sowby is frequently found vacillating between wanting her children to grow up and wanting them to stay small forever. She blogs about finding joy in the little things at www.ourmostofthetimehappyfamily.blogspot.com.

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