“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.” --Mary Jean Irion
I've been thinking a lot lately about the passage of time in my life as a mother. We are in the thick of "birthday season" right now with Abigail turning 13 two weeks ago and Nathan turning 5 last week and Luke turning 7 next week. I literally have 21 days left of having two children at home during the schooldays. Ever. For the rest of my life.
I will never again have two of my babies home during the school day.
For some reason that is hitting me so much harder than having a teenager--the teen years are new to me but the years of reading stories and taking walks in the sunshine have been my life for more than a decade. And since we moved things have already changed so much--Nathan goes to preschool every afternoon rather than just three times a week; we are busier in the mornings with house projects (and the house is so much bigger that I spend much more time cleaning), the older kids get home an hour earlier, etc. I feel like the pace of life has accelerated dramatically in the last six months and I still haven't caught up.
I'm typing this right now while Matthew naps. The house is silent. Outside I can see the cherry, crabapple, and pear blossoms blowing in the wind--petals are drifting down to carpet the grass with pale-pink snow. I'm so grateful for my beautiful life and my sweet children, and for the years I have had with tiny little people occupying my days.
Next year I will only have Matthew home with me during the day. And then a few years after that he will start kindergarten, and the year after that Abigail will leave for college.
It goes so fast.
Posts
