Day 4: When did that happen??

Today has been a weird day. My oldest son turned 20. 20! I'm not real sure how 20 years snuck up on me like that. Then I see so many of my friends' kids heading off to the 8th grade formal and I think about how it really doesn't seem like it has been that long since Tripp was that age. Time just flies by, and we are all so busy that we miss a lot of it. Physically I have been at every major event my kids have been in, but I sometimes wonder if they would say I was present, really present. I wonder if I had done a better job of capturing those moments in a bottle, maybe I would have a more clear memory of what it was like in the moment. Time passes through that hourglass and there is nothing we can do to stop it. 20 years! My one little word this year is perspective. I have tried to focus on that word a lot. If I'm not careful, the thought of being the mother of a 20 year old will very quickly send me down the slippery slope of feeling sorry for myself because my babies are growing up. I have to keep it all in perspective. This is the season within which I find myself. Now my season is a little spring and a little fall, I guess, since I have a 7 year old and a 17 year old to complement my 20 year trip down the motherhood trail. But it isn't easy thinking about how my oldest child no longer needs me in the same way that he did when he was getting ready for his last hoorah of middle school or first day of high school. While I know all 3 of them will always need me in one way or another, it is just different. It isn't something I can put into words just yet. All I know for sure is that I am just so very thankful that I have them and that God chose me to be their mom...for 20 years!

Sincerely,

Tara Reed