Life Lately: Whiplash

On vacation last week, things moved slowly. Porch doors slapped shut, squeals of delight echoed across the lake and every night was family movie night. We slept late, ate dinner hours later than we usually do and tossed bed time out the window. This week we moved at breakneck speed. And I have whiplash.

It's not just our daily schedule that has me reeling, it's the realization that my kids are changing, growing, aging daily. Somehow between a hair cut and her first experience at day camp Sophia grew-up. She just is different. She carries herself differently. There's confidence there that wasn't there before. She's not little. And the memory of her baby days are warped with time.

 Liam is smiling and cooing. His days are mostly wakeful and filled with dimpled smiles and awkward reaches for toys and sibling faces. He's not the sleepy, floppy, snuggly, nugget of a newborn that he was a few months ago. And there's no stopping him. He's just getting bigger.

And Jack. Last night Jack fell off the swing, literally biting the dust and gaining a bloody nose in the process. He sat on the counter while I wet a paper towel to clean him up. And before I could tenderly wipe the blood and dirt away like a mother does when her little one is hurt, he took the towel from my hand and between sniffles wiped his own face saying "I do it myself." Lately his shirts are on backwards and his shoes are on the wrong feet, signs of budding independence. He's big. My big boy.

 It all hit me driving back from dropping Sophia off one morning this week: these days won't last. Sometimes they feel never-ending in an exhausting sort of way. Between the sleepless nights and the poopy pull-ups and the five year old eye rolling and the oh-my-god-that's-Krazy-Glue-not-nail-polish and no-don't-touch-that-it's-poison-ivy. It will all fade. They will grow. I will age. I will sleep once again, poop will go in the potty, eyes will stop rolling (maybe), toes will get un-stuck and itch of a rash will heal. And This Time, this Precious Time that doesn't feel so precious most days, will be gone...at breakneck speed.

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Ever feel like life gives you whiplash?

--Sarah