My kids may be adults, but they’ll always be my babies | Tyra Damm
For all the milestones that new parents keep track of — first spoonful of solid food, first word, first steps — we tend to not notice or perhaps even deny the last moments.
Now that mine are 22 and 18, our work, sleep and social schedules diverge more than they collide. We make time for movies out and meals at home. We catch up in snippets as one of us is making coffee or via text throughout the day or as we’re folding laundry at night.I’m not exactly wistful for those younger days. I listened to all the advice that babies don’t keep. I never wished for them to grow up faster.
I’m recognizing more clearly now that my mostly grown-up children are amalgams of all those moments before. They are creations of the books we read, the TV shows we watched, the adventures we took. Their beliefs are based on the ministers, mentors and leaders they listened to. Their ability to get along in the world was pieced together in classrooms and on campgrounds, in our home and in the company of loved ones.
I don’t have to let go of those days when they were little because all of those memories are wrapped up in who they are now. And I’m relishing that they are independent people who introduce me to new ideas and trends outside my circle, who can mostly take care of themselves and even take care of others.Because I’m a teacher with waning days of summer break, my calendar has been full with essential adult appointments — annual eye exam, mammogram, check-up.
One is an employed college graduate living at home for a bit to save money, and the other is leaving Texas soon to begin college in Oregon. My days with both at home are running out. This stage breaks my heart and fills it up again. My people are doing what they were meant to do — be their own people and share their light with the world.I will always think of my children when I walk by those water slides and when I see moms walking kindergarteners to school along our greenbelt.
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