One morning about a month ago, my youngest son informed me that he had an "accident" in his bed. This was not the first time as children do have accidents (I do hope it was the last). I thanked him for telling me and after shuffling him and his older brother off to school, set out to tackle the task at hand, changing the sheets. I went to his room and stared at his bed with the race car tent attached to it. That darn tent made it so hard to change the sheets and was falling apart. I was starting to despise that tent! It was at that very moment that I decided it had to go. I took it down and changed the sheets with ease. Then I stared at the bed thinking about who would have a tougher time with it being gone, me or my son. He have had that tent for about 3 years and now it was down lying on the floor folded neatly. I knew in my heart he was going to be fine. He was growing up. But what about me? I wanted that tent to come down for so long and here I was about to cry over the fact that it was finally down.
That same son was still sucking on a pacifier until about a month prior to taking down the tent. He was too old by "normal" standards to be using one, but he had good reason and permission and only used it at night. That was a HUGE transition for him. Two transitions so close together. I was overwhelmed with emotions. I was sad that I was losing my "little" boy and happy that he was becoming a "big" boy. It didn't seem like it had been this difficult with my oldest, getting through these transitions. I do remember being sad about the pacifier leaving his mouth when he was 3, but was it really as hard as this? Maybe time dulled the sadness.
Time has a way of chasing away some memories and bringing in new ones. I wonder if I will remember what he looked like when he slept in that tent. I wonder if he will remember the feel of the pacifier that he used to rub on his cheek. In life, we are constantly moving forward. We are often reminded of our past and we use it to learn. That is how we become wise. That is how we learn. My children are growing and I don't want to take that away from them, but if I could slow it down or freeze the precious moments, I would.
It seems like only yesterday that they were born...
