Growing Up Fast — Parents, Cherish The Memories

Children grow up. They all do. Mine are and so are yours. Chances are you might have one or two that are already grown into fine adults. Watching a child grow up is one of the greatest things about being a parent. Every year you are able to see them grow in height, experience and personality. When they finally reach that age of adulthood, you feel so accomplished about raising them up that you just feel like you’re going to burst with joy. To see them grow into adults are what every parent dreams of whether you’re a first time parent or are going down this wonderful road once again.

Of course, some parents might feel that they’re little ones are growing up ‘way too fast’. I definitely feel that way myself. However, I don’t believe they’re growing fast until after those precious first time moments in childhood. Moments such as first steps, first words, first temper tantrums (yes I find it a pivotal moment. Odd right?), first time reading a book and first day of school. All of these moments feel like they happened so far between one another that I actually prayed time would move faster. Then, once these great moments were succeeded, my wish for faster time actually came true.

Sometimes it feels that after reaching a certain point, such as their first day of school, everything is moving by in a blur. It’s as if once they step foot on that bus in the morning for kindergarten, they’ll be back in the afternoon wearing a cap and gown with a diploma in hand and a big grin on their faces. If time actually moved that fast though, everybody would be disappointed without the memories in that missed age gap. I know I’d be standing there going, “Wait, what happened?” What happened to school dances? What happened to meeting their first boyfriend/girlfriend? How about getting their driver’s license? Seriously, what happened?

You know, when it comes to kids, we all want to have those moments to grasp the minute they happen. All the moments as they grow up from a newborn baby to that high school graduate. That’s why we all have videos, photos, artwork, programs, paperwork and other things to help us remember these events daily. Though, there are moments when you are unable to have a physical reminder. At these times, all we can do is plant this seed in our memory bank to speak about in the future. Although for some kids, these memory seeds can come back to haunt them, or even you. (Thank you, mom, for all those crazy, strange and most embarrassing stories about me as a kid. Do you have parents that have done this to you as well?)

As most readers know, my boys are actually my nephews I have been raising with my parents since they were tiny little babies (I was in 11th grade at the time). But even though I am not their biological mother, I am still raising them like my own as some of you might be doing as well. And just like every parent, I love to have memories of my kids surrounding me. Everything that happened since they first came to live with me to the first day of school to the fantastic kids they are today are cherished by me and my parents. All the baseball and lacrosse games, awards, girlfriends (went crazy over this one), injuries, school, appointments, playing and everything in between. My memories are so filled with these boys, there’s only a few rare moments I have without them. Why so rare? Because they mean everything to me and the memories I have of them keep me happy in my daily life.

So, as a fellow parent/guardian, I just want to say this: Cherish every moment you can with your kids. Make a memory that can follow you for a lifetime. Because, as I said, time flies so fast and if you blink, you might just miss out on something. Remember to bring that camera, just in case!