The days are long, but the years are short.
“The days are long, but the years are short.” I’ll never forget first reading that quote in Gretchen Ruben’s The Happiness Project. It struck a chord. How is it that some days feel like they last forever — homework, driving, house maintenance, meetings, to do lists. But, I also can’t believe that we have a 12 year old and a 14 year old now in our midst! Only one more year until we are a 100% teenaged household. We will adjust quickly and it will all seem normal eventually, but right now that’s hard to fathom.
Which brings me to two recent Mom moments. First, my focus upon a very ordinary pair of PJ bottoms. They are size 4T from the Gap; light blue and covered with little clouds. Ella got them them when she was three years old and they went all the way down to her chubby little ankles. They weren’t particularly large; just regular PJs.
The remarkable thing is that they still fit — NINE years later. Like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – except instead of fitting four different people, they just keep fitting year after year! Something about this brings me joy.
And with Hudson, I have different kinds of sentimental “Mom” moments — like when I let him open up the back of my laptop the other day. He convinced me that I needed to upgrade my processing speed and next thing you know, I had given him permission to perform minor surgery on my precious MacBook. Not that it was such a major thing, but it registers on my maternal radar when my child knows a lot more about something than I do. And it’s happening more every day.
I’m happy to say that I am enjoying my faster computer, immensely!
It’s crazy how all of these kids — mine, and those I have known since they were babies — are SO big! Some of them are taller than me, and hairy, and curvy, and have deep voices. What?!? Some days {queue the home movies and forget it!} I really miss their littler days. Other days, all I can do is marvel at the amazing growth happening right before my very eyes. The days are long, but the years are short.
One sappy mama — over and out.
Related posts:
- Olliebop Shops: Holiday Gifts for Tween and Teen Guys
- Summer Time Warp and The Smell of Freedom
- How to Save Four Days of Your Life
- So Big, and Back to School
- Olliebop Shops: Holiday Gifts For Tween & Teen Girls
Oh, BOP, don’t I know what you mean! You were my little one 44 short years ago, and now you’re writing lovely essays like this (sorry, blog is just too flat a word!) I still remember when you said, “OK, Mom, turn ‘em on!” after your first skis were strapped to your little feet. And now you and your family are happy skiers. We still have that Raggedy Ann book where a certain scary illustration made you turn your head away every single time we got to it. And now you’re a devoted book club member, giving me great recommendations for my next read.
Thank you for this lovely slice of life, and for giving me grandchildren who, like you, continue to amaze and delight!
xoxox
Mom
Awww… Mom! With much love and many thanks for a charmed childhood. It went quickly, but it was wonderful!!! xoxo
Yup, the years do fly by and I too remember someone telling me that, when I became a brand new mom. At that point, all I knew was the long days and nights- didn’t feel the years flying by till toddlerhood and then it was full steam ahead … Just recently, I was looking for an old photo in my computer files and clicked on something that turned out to be a video clip. Suddenly there was my 10 year old son hamming it up as a big, strong “he-man.” For 5 seconds, I had that little person back and it was such a weird moment- that person has disappeared from my life seemingly overnight. He comes home in a couple weeks for spring break and I’m looking forward to cajoling some 10-year-old-boy grins out of him….Thanks for a great post, Beth, and a reminder for all us parents to enjoy the chaos because the house gets too quiet and too clean soon enough!!
Hi Cecilia!
Thank you for sharing this. What a transition for you! You must look forward to those precious visits home so much!
Qll of us with kids still in the house would do well to remember your words… that “the house gets too quiet and too clean soon enough!”
Many good things to come, at all of the ages and stages!
Beth