Many of you know that I used to scrapbook, a lot. As the years passed and hobbies changed focus, I found I had less and less time for scrapbooking. I still try to find the time to put pictures into an album and label them. I think I'm about halfway through 2016. But every now and then we love to go through our old scrapbooks. Just the other day we did just that.
Reflecting back through those pages and then looking at my two daughters, I was struck by how fast time has flown by. Everyone tells you when you have your babies that the time with them will pass in an instant. I saw a quote the other day that I'm going to take as mathematical fact because I am too lazy to figure it out. It said that there are 940 Saturdays from the time your child is born until they graduate. That sure doesn't seem like enough Saturdays. And when I look at Libby, I can figure out how many I have left. 17. Wow. I can't tell you how much that stabs through the heart and brings tears to my eyes. With Sophie only 4 short years behind her, I don't even want to know how few Saturdays I have left with her.
The truth is, while looking back those years passed so quickly, there were days and weeks and phases that I wished would pass faster. I wished away far too many hours and days; wishing that potty training would just get over or wishing that spring would come or volleyball would start. There were far too many endless sleepless nights worrying about this or that where it seemed like morning would never come, or days I wished to get over so I could be back in my bed and sleep. The result of all that wishing time away is that here I sit; one daughter just a few months away from graduation and one about to enter high school and I have no idea how it happened.
A friend saw a post about Libby going to a Snow Ball dance with a boy and wondered how that was possible as she was too young. Believe you me, I ask myself that very question. A boy! She is supposed to be playing with ponies and reading books. When did she get old enough to like boys?! And get invited to dances. The answer feels like just yesterday. Just yesterday I was buying her shirts with unicorns on them and now I'm finding half my closet on her bedroom floor. Just yesterday she was crying over basic math facts and now she's passed College Algebra. Just yesterday I was struggling to get her to eat her vegetables and... wait.... I'm still struggling to get her to eat vegetables. Maybe that milestone is still coming. The truth is, that in so many ways, it seems like just yesterday she was a scrawny little 8 year old that every thought was 5 and now, in so many ways, she's all grown up.
Sophie isn't far behind. Even pictures from three years ago shock me. I watched her play basketball last night and the way she carries herself on the court blows my mind. When did she learn that patience, that poise, that finesse? She's always been a scrappy and aggressive little turkey. When did that turn into a real player? And that's just in the last 2-3 years. Let's go back to the toddler that told her sister to "cowgirl up or just lay there and bleed". Where did she go? Bring back my babies! I want a do over.
The truth is that our kids grow up way too fast. Our time with our friends is too short. Our loved ones will be gone before we know it. We need to enjoy every single minute. Even those agonizing slow minutes where the work day drags on. We need celebrate and appreciate those times as well because only their slow passing allows our lives to stop its headlong sprint to the finish.
No comments:
Post a Comment