Today I took my first baby to high school orientation. And I am not ok.
Time is a funny thing when you’re a parent. On the hard days, time crawls and you can feel stuck in dark spaces. But then it brightens and picks up. The people have places to be, assignments and projects to complete, friends to celebrate at cute kiddie birthday parties.
Then one day those birthday parties become hanging out or texting. They begin to grunt as a form of communication, and don’t even think about getting them out of bed in the morning. Suddenly they sound like an adult, run into walls and furniture as they adapt to a body that is growing crazy fast, and sometimes they smell.
It is like I blinked and the cute little boy who rushed to hug me and tell me about his day in elementary school has become a man overnight. I know the time has passed because of the blessing of context and stories of daily life. But good golly it is going so fast.
Hold on tight, kid. I’m told this is the swiftest of seasons and before we can expect it, we’ll be preparing for another chapter I can’t even process right now. Slow it down a tad, please, and forgive your mom if I’m a little weird and weepy. For approximately the next four years.
