A Quickly Moving World

I remember being in high school and wishing it was over. I remember asking for items for the apartment I was getting as soon as I turned 18, the boyfriend I was going to be with forever, the friends I would never lose contact with, the life I couldn't wait to outgrow.

It's already been eight years since I graduated. I have just started talking to some of those friends again, and others either I still haven't been in contact with or we have just changed too much. My husband and I own our own house and have three children, and he certainly (and very, very thankfully) is not that boyfriend I thought he would be. Now I'm begging for time to slow down.

Growing up, I always got annoyed when family would say 'Wow. She's growing like a weed,' or 'I wish I could put a rock on top of her head to keep her from growing,' but now I find myself wishing for similar. I look at two little girls and a little boy who are growing at rates I can't even keep up with. I can't even tell you how many well-check visits we've gone to. All I know is it's enough to make my head spin. How in the world is my little girl already almost 4? How did my baby girl just turn 2? And my little boy is already over half way to where my girls were when they stopped breastfeeding.

When I look in the mirror, I can't believe what I see. I'm getting old. Over 1/4 of a century behind me, and well on my way to 30. Sure, it's not that old in the grand scheme, but if I blink my eyes again, I'll have another 1/4 of a century behind me, and my children won't be the ones looking at me with loving, trusting eyes. Instead of sweet little voices calling 'Mommy!' they'll be calling 'Grandma!'

Even knowing all of that, I also know my eyes will still fill to the brim, I'll still wonder how my babies grew so fast, and I'll still wrap my arms lovingly around the babies that call for me. Yes, life is flying by, and it will continue to leave me breathless. But at least I know the breakneck pace my life is going at now is paving the way for a future filled with love, laughter, and everyday miracles, just like it is now.