I remember it well.....the feeling that when the young son, three years of age, was too quiet. When that happened, I knew I’d better go see what he was up to. This day was a little different. There was quiet, followed by running water from the outside faucet, followed by shrieks of laughter. By the sounds of the laughter, I knew it was the three year old. This happened a few times before we decided to go investi gate. What we found was this: Our young son had three earth worms that he was stuffing down the garden hose. When they were all in place, he would go to the faucet, turn it on full blast, and watch the worms “fly,” much to his delight, which accounted for the shrieks of laughter.
It went so fast! When was it that the skinned knee was no longer a daily event? When did muddy clothes cease to be a problem because the boys learned to walk around the puddle instead of through it? When did I have to stop worrying that they were going to bring frogs or snakes into the house to show (or horrify) their mother? When did they stop running into their parents’ bedroom when thunder scared them? When was the last time we went with them to the toy store?
This is MY children I’m talking about. Yes, I knew that every new thing was something to be remembered, to be treasured, but I also had the laundry to do, cooking to do, and, of course, cleaning. Childhood slipped away very quickly. Now I wish I had written every memory down, taken more pictures, stopped more often to just enjoy my children, their antics, their learning, their experi-
In our fast paced society, so much is expected of our children. I just hope we are able to sort out the important activities for our children from those that “rush them into adulthood” prematurely. It’s a fine line. When are we helping them develop into responsible adults at a normal pace, and when are we rushing them to the extent they miss out on important childhood experiences? Parenthood is an awesome responsibility, filled with joys, challenges, and lots of prayer.
Enjoy it while you can!