Where has the time gone?

Anyone have an answer to this one?

I certainly can apply this question to my blog.  Generally I like to write one a week minimum, but since starting up a new business I have had less time on my hands.  That 15 minutes a day that I used to have just seems to fly by now.

I can also apply this question to my life.  Where has all the time gone?  One minute I'm a kid in grade school playing tetherball everyday at recess (whatever happened to that "sport" anyway?), the next minute I'm at high school prom, and the next I'm at my high school 20th year reunion.

Today I took my oldest daughter on a Brownie troop field trip to the bowling alley.  I kept thinking that she might not like it since the last time we were there she just couldn't deal with the heavy ball and long waits in between turns.

Then I realized, as I'm watching her have so much fun with her friends chucking 6 pound balls down a lane, listening to all the huge "thud!" sounds, that the last time we were there was about 3 and a half years ago.

I kept going over and over it again thinking that I must be remembering wrong.  But I wasn't.  It really had been over 3 years.  And it honestly seemed like only six months.  A year max.  Until I watched my daughter and saw how much older she is now.  So independent and carefree.  Nary a tantrum in sight these days.  Sometimes time works in our favor like that.

Then we came home and went door to door delivering Girl Scout cookies that she sold to the neighbors.  I honestly couldn't believe that this was me.  This was my child selling and delivering the cookies and not me.  I so clearly remember those days, with the same form that they still have today, all filled out, counting up how many I sold to see if I earned my patch.  And now I get to watch my daughter do it all with the same excitement.

I keep thinking to myself, do I really have a 7 year old kid?

In the midst of all this girl scout goody-goody fun today, I also delivered softball uniforms to the girls on her team.  My husband is the coach, but it seems I'm the one closest to all the kids and parents.  So I gladly took on the task and brought a couple to the classroom when I showed up to volunteer, and another to the troop field trip.  No big deal really.  

Other than the fact that I had to stop tonight and look around my house and realize that this is indeed my life now.  Delivering girl scout cookies and going on field trips, getting ready for softball opening day and team pictures.  Not to mention sleepovers and hip hop dance class.

It feels like a new era.  And I have to say, it makes me feel a bit old.  Not in a bad way though.  More like in a I-can't-believe-sometimes-I-don't-realize-what-I-have-accomplished sort of way.

And in tow I still have my two little ones.  I think they keep me young.  They keep me in yesteryear.

I look at my younger daughter almost every night now when we are getting ready for her bedtime, and I size up her little arms and legs.  I keep a close eye on them as if I can see if they have grown overnight.

And I give my son more kisses in a day that I can possibly count.  I especially love the spot on the side of his neck just above the collar bone.  It's just delicious.  And it's going to be off limits one day soon, replaced by a "mo-mmy!" and then replaced by a whiny "ma-ahm" when I try to squeeze in a kiss good-bye in front of his friends.

Because now I know from experience that before you realize it those little limbs stretch out longer, those little teeth fall out one by one, and those little brains soak up more than you think can possibly fit in them.  

Before you know it they are 7 years old.  And one day soon after that they are 27.  And you really won't ever be ready.  

But hopefully you can at least say you got in plenty of kisses and long gazes, and watched as many softball games and went on as many field trips as you possibly could while you had the chance.