You know we hear that all of the time. You run into a little old lady at the grocery store when you're walking around with your stroller and she says, "Enjoy these times....they go by so quickly!" Last night that hit me like a ton of bricks!!!!!!
I went into Emma's room to kiss her good night. She's 12 years old...5' 6" and 120lbs so to say that she doesn't look like a baby is an understatement. But as I sat there (reading her text messages) while she was sleeping, she looked like a little girl again. She actually curled over towards me in a ball and snuggled up. And that's when the memories started flowing....
I can clearly remember driving home with her in the car from the hospital. We had a Chevy Malibu and I sat in the back seat, right next to her, to make sure she was safe!! We got home and our two beagles went nuts. Those sweet dogs that I used to think were my babies suddenly became just two dogs. Not that I didn't love them, but they were howling and jumping and I was so concerned about my precious little angel. She was the top priority now. In one moment (or 12 hours of labor:) my whole life had changed.
I also thought of when we moved from Colorado back to Arizona. Emma was about 14 months old. Ryan and I were staying with his mom at her home. We slept "Lucy and Ricky" style in 2 twin beds with Emma at the foot of mine in a play pen. Within a few weeks she would climb out of that play pen in the middle of the night and dive into my legs! She'd stay perfectly still for a minute or so, as if I didn't notice her sneaking out and then she'd snuggled up right in my chest and go to sleep. I used to get stressed about this!! I mean what if she doesn't sleep in her own bed when we move! She's not getting a whole night of uninterrupted sleep??? Why can't "I" get ONE good night's sleep!!! Is this healthy for her??? What I'd give to have another night like that!!!!
I also thought of the most special memory that Emma and I shared when she was 7 yrs old. She had been asking if we could stay the night in a hotel, just the two of us, for one night. She had seen an ad for a Best Western and kept telling me how nice that hotel was. The boys were born and our lives had become pretty chaotic with 5 kids. This was something she wanted SOOOO badly! I'm am so glad that I actually followed through on this one....
We got my mom and dad to watch the girls and Ryan had the boys. It was planned for Saturday. Emma was running a fever that morning and I knew we'd have to cancel. We spent the first 2 hrs of the day at Urgent Care. She had bronchitis. I assured her that we could go in a couple weeks but she just wouldn't have it. She wanted to move forward with our Best Western plan. And we did....
We went to the hotel and checked in. Emma alternated Tylenol and Motrin all day in order to have some fun. We actually went swimming in a heated pool but the precious moment happened while we layed in our room and watched an all day marathon of Drake and Josh. She quietly said to me...."Mom, who's your favorite person!" I just didn't know what to say. I'm trying to think of the politically correct way to say that mom's love all their children the same. I actually told her that SHE was my ALL-TIME favorite 7 yr old and Olivia was my favorite 5 year old and....on and on. Then in this precious little voice she said, "Well mom, you're my favorite person in the whole world!" I cry everytime I think of that moment! It made all the work and all the sleepless nights seem like nothing. This day that she had waited for so patiently became my FAVORITE memory of her that I will cherish FOREVER!!
I'm still in the midst of parenthood. My girls are 12, 10 and 8 and the boys just turned 6 this past weekend. I get plenty of those young "tender" moments on a daily basis with the smaller ones. I have so many special memories with each one of my kids. But the truth of the matter is that it DOES go by so QUICKLY!! Cherish those precious moments with YOUR kids! Take time to enjoy spending time with them and don't worry about the dishes, the laundry, making dinner. Sometimes it's just a 5 minute interaction with your child that you'll remember for the rest of your life. I mean that!! I know that I don't do it enough and today is a day that I'm going to try just a little bit harder to let things go and just enjoy that blessings that God has given me with my children. I hope that you will try to do the same.....:)
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