I Did Not Okay This Growing Up
May 21, 2011
It is almost exactly ten years that separate these two, the bookends of my children.
Ten years, one month and two days. If I were to be exact.
It is not a lot of years, and yet it’s the difference between just past a baby…
…and almost a man.
For me it was just a blink of the eye.
It is times like this when I have their photos next to each other that my heart seizes and I get a lump in my throat. How is it possible? What have I been doing as the days, and then the years, slipped past. Mostly unnoticed.
Posted by Chris @ 7:21 pm
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7 kids in 10 years? God Bless you!
May 21st, 2011 at 8:20 pmMy “bookends are 9 1/2 years apart (6 kids total - 5 boys, 1 girl). My oldest will be (gulp) 21 freakin’ years old in July!!!! I look at the man-cub that he is, all independent, living with buds in off-campus housing, managing a job, an internship, and a straight A GPA at a state college (Go Buckeyes!)two hours away from his mommy, and I want to both cry and cheer like mad!!!! Hell, my husband and I were his age WHEN WE GOT ENGAGED 25 years ago (which totally freaks him out when we remind him of that). Then I look at the “little” one. 12 years old, on the brink, and I mean brink, of puberty. He’s losing that chubby face, soft skin, sweetness, and will very soon be a(nother) grumpy, moody, stinky, eat-me-out-of-house-and-home teenager. I swear it was yesterday that I was wiping both of their butts. But while I mourn their youth (and mine), I’m so excited for their futures. I decided long ago not to “will” the next stage in their development, but to cherish them. Live in the moment. Love them today. Because tomorrow happens really fast. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go yell at 3 of them (I think it’s only 3) to stop fighting in the bathroom.
May 21st, 2011 at 8:55 pmI/We are right there with you. I’ve been reading your blog since just after Miles was born. I have a son who will be 15 next month. He’s 6′ tall and 200 lbs. It goes even faster than they said it would. I’m stunned by my son’s growth and also when I see photos of how fast your sons are growing. A ways back you had a photo of your blond middle son and I was shocked to see how his arms looked kind of manly and I thought ‘not him too!’
May 21st, 2011 at 10:09 pmNot unnoticed, as your blog attests. Just too fast. Too too too fast.
May 21st, 2011 at 11:10 pmOh I sooo feel the same way. My oldest daughter just turned 16 and got her license. My youngest just turned 9, and my middle will be 13 in a couple of weeks. It kills me that they are growing up so fast:( Adorable kids you have!
May 22nd, 2011 at 12:28 amThey heart seizes just thinking about it. My first born will be 9 this year and I can’t figure out what happened to the years between 1 and 8. The first year was, frankly, hellishly long but the rest seemed to pass in a heartbeat.
May 22nd, 2011 at 9:26 amThose are the times that I try to remember to enjoy it, to soak it all in, because it will be gone before I know it. Today I am going to skip my chores and spend more time with my boys.
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:35 amThis was such a powerful post. Not just in the time that has flown by, but looking at that little baby face of Miles and seeing just how quickly it will morph into the man-face of your older son.
I never believed time could go by so very quickly. With my kids now 16, 12 and 9, it flies!
May 22nd, 2011 at 11:21 amI am so glad that I am not the only one who thinks it’s just a blink and children grow up. My youngest is thirteen and my oldest is twenty eight with a two year old! Not sure when I became old enough to be a grandmother…I’m only 47 for goodness sake!
May 22nd, 2011 at 11:33 amWhen your babies start having babies–that’s really a scary eye-opener.
May 22nd, 2011 at 1:33 pmTime flies…
May 22nd, 2011 at 2:53 pmIn the blink of an eye, they are out the door and on with their lives.
LBC
This post makes me all at once incredibly sad, really nostalgic and absolutely terrified as I watch my first child approach his 10th birthday. Such a beautiful, thought provoking post.
May 22nd, 2011 at 7:33 pmBeautiful post, Chris! I love that their uniforms are almost identical. And that Miles is hamming it up to the camera, where as Man Child has that “Aw, Mom, not again!” face. Both are equally adorable.
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:11 pmum… laundry.
May 23rd, 2011 at 12:22 amIf you are me you’ve been drinking wine and checking your neck flesh in the mirror to see if it’s drooped to your collar bone yet.
May 23rd, 2011 at 11:26 amMy boys are 31 (step), 19 and 12 years old. It whooshes past in a heartbeat. All you can do is cherish the moments, be sure they know you love them, and take lots of photos.
May 23rd, 2011 at 12:44 pmMy youngest son is seven, my oldest are twin boys, they’re seventeen. You put into words what I think in my mind everyday.
May 23rd, 2011 at 2:01 pmBeautiful.
The days of those first years seem to go soooo slooooowly. They are in diapers forever. They are toddlers forever. And then, somewhere around when they learn to tie their shoes, time ramps up to warp speed and suddenly they are bigger than me and I’m wondering how we got here so quickly.
May 23rd, 2011 at 2:05 pmMy girl is only 5 and I am already wondering where did my baby go!
May 23rd, 2011 at 3:49 pmYour kids are gorgeous
so true. was listening to someone talk abt potty-training today while thinking, I do not miss those years- but yeah, I can remember it vividly- and the toddlers are now 25, 23, 20 & 19!
May 23rd, 2011 at 7:34 pmYour boys - the babies and the men - are gorgeous! I’ve been a fan of your blog for some time, but I’ve never commented before. It really seems you have it together - my four drive me nuts sometimes….it seems like they are always fighting. I assume it gets better, I just wonder when.
May 23rd, 2011 at 10:08 pmI freekin LOVE this post. It’s honest and filled with love.
May 24th, 2011 at 9:51 amYeah, I hear ya. I tried grounding my son for growing up. For some reason he didn’t take the grounding seriously.
Time sure flies doesn’t it? I’m sure with 7 it makes it go by even faster trying to get it all done in a day. At least you have you blog to look back on.
Keep up the great work with your kid’s.
May 24th, 2011 at 1:35 pmI got a lump in my throat just reading this. I know how fast it all goes….
May 26th, 2011 at 10:55 amThis gives me a lump in my throat and a) they’re not my kids and b) my kids are about 3 yrs apart in age. Maybe it’s that I can remember my son when he was the age of your youngest playing baseball and so into it just like yours and he’s not yet the age of your oldest so I’m not ready for him to be there yet. I know he will be and he’ll still be playing baseball…just like yours. Or, maybe it’s because my sister was 10 years younger than me and I always felt so much older than her growing but then the years melt as you get older…enjoy each moment. I hope they’re great friends as they get older together.
May 26th, 2011 at 2:57 pmI’ve been not around for a while (my fault) and I can’t believe how big your children are! Beautiful family.
June 5th, 2011 at 8:14 am