Just when I was getting used to the idea...

Just when I thought I was okay with the idea of my babies going to school in September leaving me alone for the first time since February of 2004, I have to find an old videotape of them at one and two years old. Yikes!! I was transported back in time to baby squeals and clapping hands and cheers for sliding down a slide by themselves; to both Leo and Cat walking around like drunks trying to steady themselves on two legs; to...to....

I remember when Cat was born and my mom brought Leo to the hospital to see us. I started to cry when he came through the door because, overnight, my baby turned into a toddler!! I mean he was HUGE!! All of a sudden, due to this tiny little eight pound eight ounce infant girl in my arms, I came to the realization that he aged from a baby to the 15 month old he was. It was very sad for me.

So you'd think I'd have learned my lesson and NOT watched the tape marked "Leo's 1st Birthday" or the tape marked "Summer 2006", right? Yeah, NO! Not only am I subjected to the seem-splitting speed of time, I watch film of my sweet basset hound no longer with us. Oy! I am, however, very proud of myself for keeping it together while the kids giggled and gawked over the babies that were once them. Their giggles and self-mocking were really fun to watch. I would have coverage of Leo staggering around forever (very scintillating stuff!) and go to fast forward to find something with Cat in it and she'd cry "Don't! I want to see him!!" Leo, of course, was happy to move on from Baby Cat to Baby Leo; no problem!

When Leo was a baby, people would stop me and admire him and tell me to enjoy every minute because before you know it, he'll be going off to school, losing teeth, and talking back. I would politely promise to enjoy the time but in my mind I was praying for the day he'd sleep through the night or get past the horrendous teething stage or get big enough to fit into that adorable outfit in the next size. I decided those people were just waxing romantic and time would always go as slowly as it did(especially leading up to nap time!)

But watching those videos was a real wake-up call and I have to apologize to all those admirers for doubting their words. Time has gone by in the blink of an eye. Not just with my own kids, but others' as well. My nephews and nieces have children, some of those children are starting high school. Contemporaries from high school are having college graduation parties for their children or have even become grandparents. I'm not there yet, but after my epiphany I know that it's virtually around the corner!! I mean, I watch commercials about daughters getting their driver's license and driving off down the street while their father stands in the driveway lost...I tear up for Pete's sake! Geez.

The flight of time is probably the oldest and most common complaint among parents but I think each one feels that no one else can come close to understanding the way they feel about it. But we do. I think there will be a lot of parental melancholy when the first day of school comes around, as there is every year, I'm sure, due to Kindergarten-, high school-, and college-bound babies leaving the nest. I'll get over it, of course, until the next major milestone anyway!