Don't Blink

When at the park for the fireworks show I was sitting on the blanket with the girls. Dan's parents and sister had yet to arrive and Dan had taken the boys to the beach. A couple, who looked to be about our age, was sitting at a picnic table not too far away. They commented in surprise that we had two sets of twins. They kept exclaiming how great it was and were genuinely reveling in the girls. We talked for quite a while and then they went to meet their kids and leave. Only then did I find out that their kids are 14, 15, and 16. They didn't look old enough to have kids that age!

What struck me was that in the end, they walked over to get a closer peek at the girls, looked right at me and said, "Don't blink." They said it with great sadness. Like they had mistakenly blinked. I knew. If I blink, all my kids will be older. Instead of yearning for time by myself (like I do now) I'll be yearning for them to sit and share their day with me instead of running off with friends. As my new friends walked away, they kept saying, "Don't blink, it'll all be over. This seems like it's going to take forever, but you blink, and it's gone."

But, upon further reflection, I realized that this is my favorite time of life so far (and I admit, my college years rocked). :) I'm so scared for this part of my life to pass. What will I do when my kids are grown? What will I do when I'm not wiping markers off the wall, packing lunches, getting juice, attending to a cry, or even blogging a funny story? This is my life now, and I love it. I might complain, or stress out, but these are my days. MY days where I am the star of my kids life and they want nothing more than to be with me. I will not blink. I will take pictures, do projects with my kids, and simply enjoy the moment. I will laugh when they pee on the neighbors fence, I will not stress that they can't write their names. These things will come. But their overwhelming love and desire to be here with mommy is now, and I will be present to that.

I will not blink.