The Next Chapter.

Girls Shoes

It’s August. How? I mean where did the summer actually go? To many that means, less sun, less warmth, less leisure. But to most parents that means back to school. And back to school means that our babies are growing up. They were literally just born – how is it that they are going to Pre-School and Kindergarten? And here come the tears.

It’s totally cliché when people say: “the days are long, but the years are short.” In the early days, after just having baby #1 the days are most certainly long. They are filled with chaos, fumbling around cluelessly, and SO MUCH MESS. Each day may actually last 42 hours (maybe that has something to do with getting about 2 hours of sleep each night). But after just a few months you look back through the 1300 photos you took of your little one, and you can’t actually believe how much she has changed in just a few short months. And somehow – she’s 1.  Like how?? You’re still working off those last few baby pounds and she’s basically a toddler. I guess it’s time to get serious about that. So maybe “those” people are right. The years are short. Year one went by in just the blink of an eye, and the following years are no different.

And as parents, we spend those days differently. Some stay home and are with their babies every day. All day. And some head back out into the work force and have child care help of some kind.  These parents tend to squeeze in a lot after work, during the weekends and on vacations. Both have Pros. Both have Cons. Both are great parents. And both see their babies grow overnight. Because that’s actually how it happens.  One day the baby is in diapers and breastfeeding every 2 hours and in the blink of an eye you have a threenager (this is an actual thing – just wait).

And then Baby #2 is on the way.

When the next baby comes – just wait. You think the first one went by fast?? The first few weeks, no – months, with two is… a happy kind of chaos.  That’s a great, and accurate, way to put it. You’ll say things you never imagined saying. Like, “We don’t lick windows” or “Dog treats are only for dogs – and your sister is not a dog”. Nothing will be clean or organized. You won’t eat much – but there will be lots of snacking done by the toddler and lots of nursing by the baby. But don’t worry you’ll survive. And you’ll be happy. Who knew being hungry, showerless and covered in Target stickers could make you so happy. It will.

But I digress. Though you’ll see them grow up day after day it doesn’t really hit you until you’re sitting on the couch watching Hart of Dixie one Friday night (because this is what you do on Friday nights.  And this is a GREAT show – Netflix it.). You’re mindlessly flipping through photos on your phone and go back further and further. And it hits you. Hard. Who is this baby? How was this a year ago? Her hair has grown, and she doesn’t have that baby fluff anymore. Oh, and wait until you get to the videos. These will really get you going. From last year to this year she has learned to talk. Like in full sentences. Ones that actually make sense. And here come the tears…again.

And this leads me back to the end of Summer talk. It’s a big one. Kindergarten for baby #1 and Pre-school for baby #2. Still quite unsure how this all happened. But it has. Things are going to change now. Certainly not a negative thing, but it’s really real now. It’s not a photo or video comparison. It’s school. And school means independence. We won’t be right at their side, always there to protect them, to lead them, to watch over them. It’s so scary! Scarier for us than for them certainly. But it’s a fact of life and time to suck it up parents (I’m telling myself this.  Over. And over. And over again).

So now that it’s August and the last summer of having “babies” is coming to an end. I’ll do what I have done every other summer. Make the memories.  Because that will never change. Age 3 or age 23. It’s all about family. Friends. Life lessons. And memories.

So as we close one chapter, we excitedly (and hesitantly) open another. Make way Kindergarten and Pre-School, we’re coming for ya!

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