That went fast

I think there's a saying something like....the days go slow and the years go fast. Even if it's not an official saying, that's how I feel.

About a minute ago, or what it seems, we rushed our lives from the city to the burbs in an effort to educate and raise our kids. My son was a week shy of 5 and my daughter was 2. We have been here almost 9 years.

I remember sitting on the bus for Kindergarten orientation day with my son and my husband. We stopped at all of the houses to pick up the kindergartners on our route. One by one the little 5 year olds excitedly climbed aboard the bus followed by their parents. These were my general thoughts......"I can't believe my little man is going to Kindergarten. Will he be friends with any of these kids on the bus? Will he be okay? I can't believe how big he is! How did he get to be so grown up?" He was off to the biggest chapter yet of his five year old life.

I am having a parallel experience exactly 2 months short of 9 years later. My little man (not so little anymore at almost 14 and taller than me) is graduating 8th grade on Saturday and is heading to high school in August.  My general thoughts are," Will he be okay academically, socially and emotionally? WHO will he be? Will he like High School? Will he make good choices? Will he make new friends and keep the ones that he's known all along?"  I can't stop feeling like we were just sitting on that bus on Kindergarten orientation day. It went very fast.

This is one of those big life transitions. Think for a second. It might not be college or your life after college, but high school counts. It makes a mark. And, it matters. I remember high school. Or, blips of it. I made choices and decisions in high school. Mostly good. Some bad. My best friends today are from high school. I started forming who I really am now at 43 in high school. And, maybe that's why this feels so incredibly big. Because I've been there. And, he's about to be there. But, this time around I am watching as the parent. And, it's surreal.

I want to say with confidence that so far, we have raised him to be a good, strong and independent person (touch wood-I'm superstitious). He works hard at school. And, he can even cook eggs. So, while that clock won't stop, I am grateful and appreciative for the man that he's becoming. I also find it fascinating to watch someone so close to you go from baby to young adult. I guess that's why they call it parenting.

In the meantime, I am stocking up with tissues for Saturday. It all feels so big right now.

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