This To Shall Pass....

"This too shall pass." This was a phrase I heard from my mom a lot when my kids were very young. I was talking to a friend last weekend who is still very much in the toddler/preschooler stage of life. I was remembering with her all the days when my 3 kids were four and under and I literally counted the seconds each day until John would get home. It seemed like an eternity and sometimes I wondered if we'd all make it through that stage of life unharmed.

But now, it's almost hard to even remember the 5:00 am wake up calls from my middle child who wanted her OJ before sunrise, or the grocery store tantrums, or the days of attempting to throw out the pacifier, or potty train, or teach them please and thank you, etc. I don't miss any of it enough to want to go back, but it is amazing to me how quickly those days fade away.

Now my ten-year-old does not want to hold my hand to cross a street and questions when she can have her own cell phone and e-mail address...and my nine-year-old seems to have wisdom beyond her years sometimes....and my six-year-old is gaining independence every day. There is a new freedom to this stage of life...one that involves mom and dad getting to sleep in on Saturdays finally, but I know all too quickly that the next stages are coming and soon they will all be off on their own. My six-year-old often reminds me that he probably won't be able to visit me every weekend when he goes to college because he'll be too busy....how can a kid that young think like that??

So, to my friend who wonders some days if she'll survive....I know it's hard and sometimes the seconds really do feel like hours...but "this too shall pass." Enjoy it, savor it, lock away the sights, sounds and yes, even some of the smells of this stage...and look forward to Saturday mornings sleeping in....someday!