June 2009

I am the mother of a junior high student and a high school senior. Even as I write that sentence, I find it difficult to believe. All parents are amazed at the rapidity of time. Wasn’t it yesterday that I was pregnant with my babies? How can one be talking about college now?

This is a conversation that I have been having with many of my friends who are parents. It is one thing to be a parent of a small child. I cannot really remember what it is like to be a six year old, but I vividly remember what it was like to be a senior. It feels as if I was in high school just a few years ago. Now my son has only a year of high school left?

The time that we are actively parenting our children is short. It flies by. Soon they are taller than us and independent, as hard as it is for us to believe that. We then move into a less active role as parents. We are now advisors, rather than the all-powerful parents. They do not have to listen to us. Our power is diminished. What is exciting about that is we can now create friendships with these interesting people we helped to create and form.

We are all so busy working, doing chores, getting on with life. But when we blink, our children are grown. Put down the bills and play with your kids. Turn off the TV and talk with them. Everything else will wait. Our kids won’t.