“I’m gonna grow up and I’m gonna move away and be a daddy.” My three-year-old says this almost every day. It’s my fault because I reacted the first time so he keeps at it (he has one of those personalities).
This new favorite statement of his is both a blessing and a curse. It makes me heart hurt just a little every time I hear it but it’s also a reminder in the midst of the busy crazy life we lead that all of this is temporary. I pause when he says it and want to pull him up on my lap and snuggle him.
When we are in the middle of the good, the bad or the mundane of life it’s good to stay grounded and know that very few things in life last. This day, this moment is temporary. This trial, this phase of life it’s fleeting. This beautiful magical moment of childhood won’t last. Keeping that in perspective makes the hard easier to trudge through and the beautiful easier to savor. And the mundane, well, it’s easier to remember that it doesn’t really matter that much in the big scheme of things.
Here are a few things I know won’t last but I love and want to savor while I can. (Please comment what some of yours are.)
- My seven-year-old still comes in and crawls in bed by me a couple mornings a week. I know it won’t be long before he thinks he’s too big for it but for now I love how he sneaks in around five thirty and falls right back to sleep once he’s tucked in beside me.
- My teenage son comes home from school and tells me everything about his day. Often when we talk he tells me how glad he is that he can talk to me. Will it last? I don’t know but I’m honored to be his confidant, friend and parent.
- My eleven-year-old loves games and wants to play board games with us whenever there is a free moment. He gets this sad look if we can’t play and I know it’s because he likes spending time with us.
- My nine-year-old writes songs and sings them without holding back at all. She’s not embarrassed at all because she knows she’s safe to share with us. She pours her heart into her made up songs and I hope she’ll always let me in like that.
- My four-year-old loves sitting on a kitchen stool and pouring in ingredients when we cook together. He pours and measures while he talks about his day, his dreams and all his four-year-old plans, then he licks off the beaters and when he smiles he’s dimples show.
- My three-year-old loves sitting on the couch beside me and listening to me read. Sometimes mid story he scoots closer and gives me fishy kisses or rests his head on my shoulder then he begs me for more and sometimes he gets his way (lots of the time).
I wish I could slow it down, freeze or bottle it up somehow for later but since I can’t I’m trying to savor it the best I can. When I forget how short this phase is and start to feel weighed down by the business of it all, Walter inevitably reminds me by telling me he’s going to grow up and leave me. Sigh…I’m guessing even that won’t last forever.
Follow me:
Leave a Reply