One Helpful Thought when I’m Sad My Kids Grow so Fast

Today was the last day of school, and I was surprised at how sad I felt that my kids grow so fast.

I’ve been looking forward to school being done and being home with my boys for months.  But instead of feeling the mounting anticipation of excitement, a lump formed in my throat.  

As we snapped these last-day-of-school pictures, I was overwhelmed with how big my boys have become.  Yesterday, they were babies.  I mourn the days when we have the whole day in front of us with nothing to do but be together.

But this one thought pierces through my sadness that my kids grow too fast. It doesn’t exactly make the sorrow disappear, but it softens the edges and helps me look forward with joy.

If those sweet days had not passed and my boys were still babies, I wouldn’t know them as well. I wouldn’t know who they are and what they like to do and what they think about. I would miss the blessing of watching them grow and change and their personalities emerge.

When I cling to the past, I have a hard time enjoying the present and looking forward to the future.

We can recall memories with fondness, capture them on our cameras and phones, but then turn the sadness into wondering…

Wondering what new treasures lie ahead.

What new book will my oldest want to share with me? What funny things will my middle son say? What new activity will capture my youngest son’s attention this summer? What family adventures will we share? And in it all, how will I be stretched and strengthened through motherhood? 

Mommas like me whose hearts break a little bit each your child vertically stretches, remember: the past is sweet, but the future…

It’s going to be beautiful too.

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Your brain bounces between your day at work, what time(s) your kids need to be at practice, your teen’s missing school assignments, that you haven’t called your mom lately, the load of the laundry to be switched, “What’s for dinner?” and “Why are 3 of my brain-tabs frozen?” 

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