Sometimes a moment comes when we realise the years have flown by. We have celebrated birthdays and are aware we are getting older but we rarely feel it… until we have children. As we begin to celebrate their birthdays and mark their aging we wonder, ‘how can we have children that age and still feel young?’.
Today I had such a moment.
I was visiting one of my closest friends, whose eldest daughter is one day overdue her baby, the first grandchild.
Before me she sat, excited and nervous in equal measure. I marvelled at her beautiful bump and imagined little one inside, soon to arrive into a large, loving family. Unknown to her, there was a moment I had to look away.
My mind had wandered to a beautiful summers day over twenty years ago. Two young mothers, not much older than this girl is now, drove to a city park for a picnic with two, two year old girls and a three year old boy. For what seemed like hours those little ones played on the slide. Two of the party racing to the top screeching in delight as they slid down. The third of the trio in much less of a hurry.
She was a blonde bundle of fun. Each time it was her turn she carefully climbed the ladder, stopping on almost every rung to look around, oblivious to the mayhem she was causing as the ladder filled up with impatient little ones pushing behind her. If her mum or I tried to hurry her, we caused a further delay, as she stood to smile and wave in our direction. Eventually, to the relief of the waiting queue, she would manage to sit down and push off, at no great speed. Having landed, she would amble pony tail swinging, to the ladder to begin the slow climb once more.
It is hard to believe this little girl is almost the age her mother and I were then.
As I try to get my head around the fact that I am no longer that young mum, equally I struggle to believe the small girl at the top of the slide is soon to have her own little one. Time marches on and this young lady now moves at a much faster pace. As I ponder her impending motherhood I hope she will enjoy the ups and downs of the years ahead, with the same enjoyment as she did that day so long ago, and that she knows her mum and I will continue to watch from a distance, just as we did all those years ago.
To that small girl at the top of the slide I say, ‘Best wishes sweetheart. Enjoy. I have no doubt you will be a wonderful mum” xx.
photo credit: Photo# 1734 – Houston Zoo – 2009 via photopin (license)
photo credit: RTD Photography via photopin cc
My thoughts on a page. 
A lovely post that brings back memories and makes we wistful for days gone. Thank you.
You are welcome. It’s lovely to have such great memories to enjoy, and hopefully lots of new ones too.
beautiful. My oldest will be 13 this year and I constantly wonder where the time has gone?
My youngest is 13 and it is frightening to realise how quickly time has passed. It’s a different sort of lovely though to get to know them as young adults. Enjoy your little ones and the days ahead.
what a beautiful memory and beautiful wishes, tric )
Thank you beth. I’m sure you have millions of such memories from your own gang and school.
So fast fly the moments that it can be a bit shocking to realize they have slid down that slide and in to parenthood before we were quite ready to even catch them!
That is exactly the way I felt as I sat watching her yesterday Coleen.
I love the way you can turn a single memory from your life into a beautiful blog post x
Thank you. Maybe I’m not half busy enough that I have time to sit dreaming and remembering as I do. 🙂
I have two little ones, 1 and 2 and I have tears in my eyes reading this, in a blink I’ll be looking back like you are now!
Yes indeed. There are many great days ahead for you. Enjoy. At times it seems never ending but trust me, eventually you will get there and I hope you have many happy memories to remind you of these days.
Thank you, I am fully aware how lucky I am to be blessed with my two!
Beautiful post. I know all too well how quickly they grow. My oldest son is 43. How can that be. He was just a baby yesterday, and now his oldest will be sixteen in just over a month. I simply cannot be old enough for this to be.
I’ve no doubt you are not old enough, just as I’m not. 🙂