The Days Pass Slowly But The Years Fly By

Laying here in the quiet, on the eve of that first day back to school, and I am realizing that quote is so true – The days pass slowly but the years fly by.  Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was looking forward to school letting out, planning so many fun things for every day. Promising my girls that every day would be a new adventure filled with fun and exciting things to do and places to see.

Honestly, I still can’t believe it. I can’t get myself to reconcile that summer is over and a new school year is upon us.  I mean, wasn’t it just yesterday my girls were lamenting the last few weeks of school?  Wasn’t it just yesterday that school let out and I greeted my girls in car line with a promise of an exciting, over the top summer filled with parks, picnics, playdates and one incredibly fun vacation to Hilton Head?

How could 3 WHOLE months have passed me by?  75 days people!!

I’m laying here, thinking about this.  I’m crying…somewhat inconsoleably to my husband (who, as usual, can’t quite figure out why I’m crying).  I’m crying because all those grand plans I had didn’t quite come full circle.  I mean, yes, we did hit some parks this summer.  But oh my gosh, the heat was unbearable!  Here in NC, July means upper 90s so it’s not ideal to be outdoors for long periods.  

And we did have a few playdates, but not nearly as many as I had hoped for.  Summer camps, vacations, VBS, work schedules, etc all had a way of throwing a wrench into the best laid plans.

We did hit the pool this summer but not every day like my older daughter dreamed of.  

And that fun, awesome vacation to Hilton Head – well we did do that too, but as usual, one of my kids was sick (like coughing until 2 am every night we were there) and I spent the first day of vacay at urgent care tending to a UTI.

And so I’m just baffled – how did those 75 days slip by so quickly?  In the beginning, I was even a little nervous that maybe my kids would get bored and that I would be scrambling to find something to do.  And now, here I am, wondering what we did do!

And now I’m sad…I’m thinking about all the high hopes I had and the reality that our days are numbered before you head back to school and our hours together will once again be limited.  I’m wondering if you had fun this summer and did I show you each day that I love you more than anything? Did I let you see fun, carefree mommy or did I let the “everyday” get in the way?

And perhaps what I’m really gleaning from this first true “summer” off from school is that the saying ‘The days pass slowly but the years fly by,” is incredibly true.  

I have heard it told to me many times since becoming a Mom.  Not that I needed to hear it – it was so evident.  One day I was praying to figure out nursing while my baby cried and the next I was washing her “too small” clothes for my next baby.  

One day, I’m watching my first born toddle towards me with a big toothy grin and the next I’m watching her go off to Kindergarten.  So I know this saying speaks volumes.  

I guess what I didn’t need was one more reminder of it as the summer wraps up and I send my babies off to school one more time.

What I didn’t need was this saying, haunting me, reminding me that each year will be the same and I will send my babies off to school until one day, they won’t come home. They will move out, move on, and make their own families.

Or maybe I did…maybe I did need this.  

Maybe I did need this reminder that the days pass slowly but the years fly by.  Because don’t we all need this reminder in the throws of parenthood? 

Regardless of your kids’ ages…whether it’s teething, tantrums or teenage angst.  Don’t we all need to remember that this too shall pass?  That what seems unbearable today is just a stage and that one day we will look back on this memory and gasp…laugh?!  

You know what, come to think of it, maybe that reminder is JUST what I needed.