Our "last first day" at Mark Twain
Two cute school girls beginning their journey in 2010
My Leah girl...loves all things bright and emojis.
Ready to learn in pre-k
My Anna...always a little wild
Pre-k cutie
My 7th grade sweetie
The other night I had one of those dreams. I’m not normally a dreamer, and I normally
put no extra thought into dreams once I wake up. Occasionally, however, I will have one that
just sticks with me. This was such a
night.
I was a third party watching my girls giggle and dance…they
were probably ages 3 and 5. The setting
was in a spot of my house I know well. A
lot of fun has happened there. They were
donning their princess attire. Anna as
Snow White, Leah as Tinkerbell, and Raychel as this purple dress no-name
princess. I saw my younger self. I watched my younger self. I was laughing and enjoying the shenanigans. But the grown, “3rd party me” felt
sad. I desperately missed those
days. I knew I would never have that
time back. The time was gone and
over. I woke up sad and heavy.
On the series finale of the sitcom The Office, Andy Bernard
said, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve
actually left them.” That’s what I was
feeling. This last school year I noticed
a pretty big shift in our mother/daughter dynamic. Everyone is more independent and opinionated
(and not in a bad way). Raychel has been
spouting off some pretty great one liners that actually make me laugh…and not
laugh to be polite. Anna and Leah can do
a top knot bun better than I can. They
stay home alone while I go to Wal-Mart.
They are legit fun to be around.
A few days ago, I dropped Raychel off at the middle school
to fulfill her leadership duties by helping show the 6th graders (and
their parents around the school). She is
just beautiful. I see boys her age
starting to check her out. What makes
Raychel even cuter is that she has NO idea how beautiful she really is. This weekend I was filling out paperwork for
Anna and Leah to be in their 12th youth theater play. Those girls can belt out show tunes like no
one’s business. This is our family’s
LAST year of Mark Twain Elementary. The
twins rode their bikes with a friend to the park the other night…and I wasn’t even
worried or nervous. They all came home
and showed me pictures they had taken of each other. Top notch tween quality…silly selfies,
holding hands with each other with their backs to the camera…stuff like that. Toys are becoming scarce in this house. Baskets and bins that used to hold Barbies
and My Little Ponies now hold countless bottles of Bath and Body Works lotion,
body sprays and EOS lip balm.
It dawned on me that I am just opening up a new chapter of “good
old days”. I can’t long for days gone
by. They were great and happy and
fulfilling as I lived them. Now it’s
time to make the most of these chapters…my time having them all to myself is
running short. That’s the great thing
about life: there is joy to be had in all phases. I pray I’ll be able to stick around for all
of it.
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