They've changed!

There are a lot of children in our neighborhood, ranging from baby to 6 years of age, give or take a year or two. We try and get together at playgroup now and again, but sometimes miss a session here or there. And it's after these breaks from catching up with friends that you look at their children and invariably say "Haven't they grown?"

It's amazing to me how that happens, one minute your friend has a baby, just taking their first steps with those big diapers waddling away on their bottoms, and then you turn around and they are trying to ride a bike and are potty trained! It seems to happen in the blink of an eye, and why should I be surprised? It's the normal state of things, but it still seems to happen so quickly.

Sometimes when I am hugging my boys I say "Are you my baby?" and they invariably reply that they are not babies, they are 'big' boys!

Yesterday we were heading up to Denver, Chuck was driving and the boys were in the back watching a DVD. I turned around to see if they were OK and I realised in that instant that they were no longer babies, no longer toddlers, but boys. I could look at their faces and see the child behind the toddler, could see how they will look as they grow and move onto grade school.

Only last year they were small and a little upset to be leaving me to attend preschool, next week they start in pre-k. Where does the time go to? It's staggering. And while in many ways I miss those little bundles of joy I can now look forward to the conversations I will have with my boys! Already I love to talk with them, to watch them earnestly discussing a game or idea they have. They use their hands to describe their ideas, they have so many plans and schemes for their games it's fascinating for me to listen to them talk about it. Oliver has even started to come and apologize for his bad behaviour - without coercion - and it's a sign to me that he's getting bigger and starting to realise the world does not revolve around him and that he isn't always right and I am not always wrong or mean or horrible!!!

This past month two of my friends have lost their fathers, one in a tragic road accident and another to cancer. It has made me realise how fragile life is, how all this can disappear in the blink of an eye. It has made me want to make more effort to stay in touch with my friends, especially those that live many miles away.

We are often so caught up in our own lives, the dramas and problems, that we don't always give our friends and family the time they deserve. I know I have much to be thankful for, not least my two 'big' boys!