Time is Flying By

by Jenny Wanderscheid

Sigh. It is happening already. The summer flew by. The day Conor, my middle child, has waited his whole life for is finally here. September 9th my little boy starts preschool. I have some serious mixed feelings about this.

Last year, when Hunter started kindergarten, it was so exciting. My first baby off to school to learn new things, make new friends and it was so FUN. But my baby leaving me??? Umm, I don't know what to think. He is not my only baby, of course, I still have Miss Cassidy here for a couple more years at least.

Conor is SO excited. This is the very first thing he will be doing out of his big brother's shadow. Conor has always done everything on his own. So, in a way, I am very excited for him. This is his chance to bloom and grow and become his own person. But sheesh, why does he have to go do it somewhere else?

Seriously, I was totally unprepared for this whole "kids grow up" thing. I swear they never mentioned this at the hospital when they handed me that sweet little bundle. No one told me that my child would be thrilled to bits to go someplace else. The last few years have gone so fast. I am sitting here trying to figure out what is happening while simultaneously trying to drag my feet and slow down time.

My oldest son, all of 6, is almost as tall as I am, and my daughter, who I swear was just born, is starting to talk. I called my mom and asked her if she knew anything about this phenomenon and she told me that it was after 9pm and I shouldn't be on the phone as I have school in the morning. Hmmm. Big help she is.

Then, as I was sitting here feeling sorry for myself, it came to me. The answer to it all. How to make it last. Savor it. Don't waste a minute. Don't end up one day sitting around wishing you had worked less and played more. Kiss your family as often as possible. You know the old line, "Have you hugged your kids today?"
Make sure you don't have to ask that question. Play with them, listen to them, get to REALLY know them.

Spend some time with them after school talking about their day. Get involved in their extra curricular activities. Know their teachers, and know their friends. You can still be close to your kids as they are growing up without being hovering and overbearing.

Of course, they will still do that grow up, move away thing. It's inevitable. Last night at the dinner table, my sweet little Conor told me that if he had to move out, he would only move 2 miles away. I can live with that. For now though, I have a serious Nintendo rematch that I promised my oldest son, and I promised to get Mancala out and play with Conor, and Cassidy really needs some serious tickling and chasing around. Remember, don't let it fly by....fly with it...and enjoy every minute!

Jenny Wanderscheid is the 30 year old marketing guru and corporate CEO of ChildFun, http://childfun.com, but she prefers to call herself a stay at home wife and mother. She and her husband Rick are raising their three children in Southern Minnesota with laughter and love.