You're Gonna Miss This

2004

12 "light years" later!

In the throes of sports schedules, school projects, birthday parties, sleepovers, snotty noses, injuries, tantrums, and tears, I am one irritable, stressed out Mom. Most days I can keep it together, but there are times I want to put myself in timeout indefinitely until the dust settles from my kid sh*tstorm of the day.

But I am reminded by veteran moms: "You're gonna miss this".

To moms and dads of newborns who've inflicted sleep deprivation: the middle-of-the-night moments of rocking, wrapping their tiny hands around your finger, smiling and cooing can never be relived.

You're gonna miss this.
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To moms and dads of toddlers eventually finding their way through your house like a tasmanian devil on crack, ripping out drawers and cabinets: Their sweet, inquisitive minds of innocence will be gone in a flash.

You're gonna miss this.
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To moms and dads of young children who spend hours cursing and assembling toys on Christmas Eve and who frantically search for dollar bills the evening after an unexpected tooth loss: The pure excitement over the simplest moments in life will never be the same once they stop believing.

You're gonna miss this.
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To moms and dads of children who have 6 places to be in one day: Before you blink, they'll have their own license and the moments in the car of cherished conversation are now replaced with moments at home, praying they'll get there safely.

You're gonna miss this.
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To moms and dads of school aged children whose projects seem to never end: You will find that once they're in college, you are rarely in the loop with anything in their lives, much less projects.

You're gonna miss this.
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To moms and dads of active kids in sports, dance, music, etc. wishing for just one night you could have a dinner that was something other than the fast food variety and that you could have just one night at home: One day you will find that, while you felt you lived your life in the car; every game, every recital, every proud moment in the midst of chaos was worth your sacrifice.

You're gonna miss this.
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With my youngest a new teenager, I realize more each day how much I miss my babies as babies and the things I once complained about, I wish, even for just a moment, I had them back.

You're gonna miss this.



"But you're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this
You're gonna miss this
Yeah, you're gonna miss this"


***revised from the 2014 blog entry.