How do you set to saying goodbye to summer vacation? To late nights and sleeping in. To bickering kids made better by games and popsicles. To sweltering heat softened by thunderstorms. I am keenly aware of time these days. Time measured by birthdays, trips home from Vancouver, and deadlines brought on by jobs and projects and school systems and, of course, myself. Time seems to be in some sort of fast forward motion right now. For those wishing for jobs to end and Daddy to be home more often, time can't move fast enough. But for those watching the babies become 7th graders, it is all too much. How do you treasure 20 days? What can be done to stop time for this short 3 weeks? School will claim them soon and with that comes so many things. I am happy for the renewed structure and chance to improve on old habits never broken. I am optimistic about all that comes with these new years for each of the children, and myself as I enter into this new phase of motherhood, sans baby. Baby has been such a tour guide for us for so many years that I don't know which path to take without that to lean on. With Baby, you know that certain things just wait. With Baby, time is a friend for a short while as you learn to crawl and walk, talk and play. The lessons come hard and fast as Baby leaves and you find children working towards independence, all looking to adulthood. Along that path, from time to time, you ask yourself if you are doing enough. Will they be successful adults? Can they make good decisions? From Baby to Adult is not as long as you might think, though some days feel like eternity. We have one who has only a short 6 years before the world expects him to be an adult. I am not sure that I have yet mastered it myself, so the idea of making sure that he is ready is daunting. And thrilling. And sad. And hopeful. From Baby to Adult.
How do you treasure 20 days? How can we treasure 1 day, or 1 hour? Zoo trips and bowling, ice cream parlors and movies, board games and swimming pools, bike rides and band-aids. My goal is to make the most of each and every day and along the way, get ready for entrance into new grades, friends, challenges and triumphs, and visits home from Daddy.
Are there things here that prolong summer days:
You should write a book.
ReplyDelete