Milestones

I don't know why, as each year passes, I find myself surprised at how fast the kids are growing. I often think about the days when my life was consumed with bottles, diapers and restless nights. Each stage of their growth was a milestone. When they were all potty trained, and the need to buy diapers and wipes were no longer on my grocery list, I marked that day as a momentous occasion. Even when I didn't need to carry around a diaper bag with all the necessary items to keep a toddler occupied and happy was a day in history etched in stone as something of the past. I relished in each milestone that allowed me to simplify my life and the lives of my little family. However now the milestones are presenting themselves much faster than before. So fast, in fact, that I almost can't keep up. Too fast for my liking, regardless of all the moments when I just wished they were all older and passed the various uncomfortable stages they were in.

Today was one of those milestones that can now be checked off a list of moments that only happen once in a persons lifetime. Corban graduated from 5th grade...*sniff, sniff*. As I watched him receive his various certificates honoring him for all his accomplishments this year, a tear rolled down my cheek as I stared at the boy that I used to cuddle after his nap wearing only a soft onsie. I thought it odd that as each time he stood he never once looked to me like a big kid moving on to Middle School. Instead, all I saw was the chubby little baby I held in my arms as he drew his first breath in this world.

Even now as I write this I am reminded of one particular day at the grocery store when the kids were real little. I was totting all 4 children and gathering the necessities as quickly as I could, while still managing to keep them from either running off or grabbing things off the shelves. I was stopped by a couple in their mid forties with unusually wide smiles spread across their faces for shoppers at Walmart. They complemented me on the beauty of my children and at how well behaved they were (that's only because we hadn't been in the store very long...give it another 10 minutes and this couple would have witnessed a much different scene.) And with tears in their eyes (no lie) they urged me to soak in every minute of these hectic years, because one day they would all be grown and I would be left wondering where all the time went. As I listened to their heartfelt plea, I couldn't help but feel sceptical. I thought those days would never end.

I realize that not only was today a milestone for Corban as he graduated from Elementary School, but it was a milestone for me as well. My son will now be moving on to the middle of three schools in his educational journey. Another tick in the timeline of our lives and another inevitable moment pushing us closer and closer toward another milestone to replace the one before it. And even though the monotony of life sometimes camouflages my ability to recognize the pace at which my family is growing, I look at each milestone as an opportunity to step back and remember the words of the unnamed shoppers, and soak in the hectic moments like a dry sponge.