You know they say kids grow up fast, and they really do. I think kids growing up so quickly is much more noticeable when I look at other people’s kids…when I don’t see them all that often or haven’t seen them in a while.
You know how it is, you see a picture or run into people at the store or a family gathering…and there they are. Maybe they were a little baby the last time you saw them and now they are a walking talking toddler. Maybe they were in middle school and now they are driving. Maybe the last time you saw them they graduated from high school and now they are married and expecting their first child. It’s like that kid was frozen in time and all of a sudden you realize how much time really has gone by and how incredibly fast it all has happened.
I think we notice this with our own kids as well, it’s just much more subtle. While the changes seem small and almost unnoticeable, when we do see it, it feels much the same as that baby turning into a toddler while we weren’t watching. There are changes that take place right under our noses but they seem to hit suddenly, right in the pit of your stomach, right in the center of your heart.
Take my daughters’ rooms as Exhibit A.
Three years ago the girls finally parted ways with one another and got their own bedrooms. With their own room we gave them each a little bedroom makeover, and as a part of their makeovers, they each got their own desks.
It was so much fun putting their new rooms together and outfitting it with the things we knew they would enjoy. The whole idea with the desks was to give them a place to work and a place to play. Our 11-year-old at the time had her desk fully stocked with markers and specialty pens and colored pencils, scissors and special paper, little paints and paintbrushes. The 9-year-old at the time was gifted a place to play “office” and “school.” She had a pretend phone and clipboard, office supplies and papers.
That was all good and perfect and fun….for a while…
Since then, the overall decor of the room hasn’t changed, but the girls have.
The craft table in the older daughter’s room has morphed into a different kind of art table. The small paintbrushes have given way to makeup blending brushes, the markers have given way to mascara, and the bins that once held pens and highlighters now hold eyeliners and highlighting sticks. Where there was once a sewing machine and fabric squares there now sits a light up mirror.
The same thing has happened in the younger daughter’s room as well. The desk we refinished for her with a chalkboard top is now topped with all of her makeup, mascara, and mirrors. There’s no play phone sitting on the corner of the desk, no papers for her to grade, no clipboard of her office work she needs to get done. Her nightlight has been replaced with a bluetooth speaker, and the too-big-for-her dress up dresses we bought at the thrift stores have been replaced with this year’s cheer uniform.
Yes, three years ago we gave the girls a “big girl” bedroom makeover, but it wasn’t us that did this latest room makeover….in fact, I feel like it happened when I wasn’t even looking. It’s like I had them frozen in time until I suddenly noticed how grown up they actually are.
Years ago someone said something to me about how they don’t remember when was the last time they changed a baby’s diaper or the last time the toddler asked them to read them a story or the last time they had to put the daughter’s hair in a pony tail.
I don’t remember the last day the girls had their play things out on their desks.
The truth is, kids are going to grow up. And honestly, I really like my teenager kids, they are some super fun people to be around. But it’s hard…and as much as I love our new adventures, I sometimes wish they would put on a princess fashion show just one more time, or they would draw pictures and make messes with their paints just one more time, or they would assign me homework and make me call them “Ms. Whoever” to play school with them just one more time. The truth is, one day there are markers and the next day there is mascara, and you really have no idea when that day will be.
I am working hard these days to cherish it…to cherish it all. The messes, the makeup, who they are today, who they will be when we wake up tomorrow. I may not remember very many last times, but I will hold dear all the times in between!
I wish every parent could read this. It goes in the blink of an eye. I think that’s why being a grandparent is so much fun...we get to enjoy it all one more time. Thank you for sharing.
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