We are surfacing now after 20 years, taking deep breaths and looking around. It's only now that we start to come up for air, now that diapers and potty chairs and nap-times and juice cups are years behind us, shoe-laces rarely needing to be tied, even bath-time no longer an evening requisite. Aah, sweet sound of the solitary shower.
How long until we miss it all, until we yearn for sticky hands and crumbs, wish for shoes scattered and outfits flung like deflated scarecrows on bedroom floors? Wish for a faded plastic fire engine in the driveway, a tangle of jump-ropes by the back door?
Someday, then, will we irresponsible tooth fairies regret tossing tiny teeth? Will we impromptu barbers mourn the piles of blond wisps swept into the trash? Will we miss the pair of tiny red Converse we gave to Goodwill, tired of untying knot after knot?
Breathing deeply, we surface.
(For more takes on the prompt "Aging," see this week's Sunday Scribblings.)
9 comments:
I could relate to this so much...there was a pair of adorable overalls my daughter wore a lot when she was a toddler, and to this day I regret that I tossed them into a Salvation Army bag and donated them. I wish I had held on to them! For some reason this particular pair hangs on in my memory. Your post was lovely and so bittersweet...thanks for sharing!
I can definitely relate to this.
The sweet baby I could lift and hold in just one hand is now 19 years old.
I have told friends that I never feel so old on my birthday -- it is when I realize how old my son is that I begin to feel a bit..my age.
xoox
AGirlNamedMe
I can relate to your words...Seems like we have a need to gather the past into one tidy bundle and keep it in a safe, safe place. Nice piece!
Great thoughts.
I am currently in the teenage stage with my boys. I suppose I will the miss the socks in the couch cushions, the food crumbs on the carpet, the endless amount of glasses filled with every kind of beverage stashed around the house and the magazines spread out on the bathroom floor.
I suppose I will, but not now.
I'm in the midst of this--my almost-six year old, the passing of time...but now is awfully good, too.
Yeah, I think we often regret not keeping things, but I think above all memories are the one true keepsake, even if we flavour them slightly...
Nicely written to the prompt!!
Surfacing after 20 years? I love that. There is a lot of holding your breath as a parent. As wobbly toddlers skin knees on sidewalks. Pulling off the training wheels. Little Leaguers getting hit by their first pitch. Remembering their first line in a school play. Questions about death and where babies come from. Awkward boy/girl phone conversations. Keeping 10 paces from their parents at the shopping mall. Learning to drive. Taking the SAT's. Whew.... I need to come up for air, I'm getting dizzy thinking about it!
Our children are definitely markers for our ageing, aren't they? I do still have some tiny shoes and clothes from my sons' infancy, and they are now well into their twenties.
I love your take on this prompt. Isn't it true...we have to enjoy each moment!
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