time

If I write about the passage of time now, and how blown away I am that my children are growing up so fast -- too fast in some ways -- will it make it any easier the day we drop our oldest daughter off at college?  She is only a junior in high school this year. We still have lots of time with her, lots of time to be the close family of five that we are, I tell myself.  Just enjoy the now.

The now is moving so fast.  The now has my baby driving a car, fastidiously practicing until she can take her driver's test.  This is the same baby who is taking college classes.  The other baby can follow a summary of Einstein's teachings better than I can, I see as I read them out loud to her.  And the third baby still gives me hugs and kisses, but irregularly now.  He suddenly wants to grow his hair long, like he ever cared before!    

Tonight at dinner we began recalling memories of our childrens' childhoods. They wanted us to tell them about themselves as young children, as if it was so long ago that they couldn't remember. Do you remember the time you put an entire bottle of shampoo into the huge bathtub and turned on the jets?  Yes. Laughter.  Do you remember the time you poured an entire salt shaker out on the table, just to see what it looked like?  Yes.  Laughter.  We have a picture of that!  Shawn was wearing a blue and white shirt.  Do you remember the time you dove face down in the crack between the bed and the wall to get your stuffed bear, your little feet sticking up, kicking in red feet pajamas?  Yes. More laughter.

Somehow they see themselves not as children anymore, the young people that live with us.  Are they not still children?

Is this what parents of teens think and feel?

The other night we took them out for dinner at our local super grocery store. Then we all went to the movies.  Winter break was almost over and we all needed to get out of the house.  I snapped the above photo of the kids walking through the parking lot, hugging each other.  What a sweet moment.

"You guys have had such a great childhood," I told them tonight.

And they are still in it.  Whether they think so or not.