Today is my birthday. I am 27. I'm not going to go on and on about how "old" I feel because I don't actually feel old. Mentally, I figure I feel about 22. I still act like I am 22. Just that now, I have " responsibilities." That's a husband, two kids, and a mortgage. It's supposed to be grown up time now.
The problem is, in the last few weeks I have been out in public without either of my children and after mentioning said children, the stranger I was talking to did a double-take. "YOU have a kid?" Why yes, in fact I have two. More shock. So I guess I still look young enough to not have kids, or don't look old enough, or not mature enough, or stressed enough, or something. However it is you're supposed to look when you've birthed babies and are engaged in the process of rearing them, I don't look it. And I'm pretty sure I don't act it, either. What I'm really wondering is, when will I FEEL like a grown up? Because maybe when I feel like one, I'll start acting like one. For instance, when I grow up I will:
-go to bed at a respectable, grown up time, like 9:30 or 10. I will not stay up until midnight goofing off on Facebook or watching Seinfeld episodes with Brad.
-make Gianna's lunch for school the night before, so that I'm not running around like a maniac in the morning, urging everyone to hurry UP while I sling yogurt and search for water bottles and stuff hunks of cheese into old lunch boxes.
-calmly and matter-of-factly put my hand into the garbage disposal in the sink to check for silverware instead of being totally grossed out and run the thing while hoping for the best
-learn the secrets of lifting stains from clothing using available household products in one-to-one ratios that I have diligently memorized
-never leave a gigantic mess of dishes in the sink at night, to be handled "first thing in the morning"
-stop being perpetually late
-protect my kids from bugs and other creepy-crawlie things without squealing and wishing my own mother was present to handle the situation for me
-stop being afraid of the dark
-only eat healthy things for breakfast, like fruit and eggs, instead of birthday cheesecake
-become organized
Hm. On second thought, being a grown up looks like a lot of hard work. Here's to being young at heart (or at least, really, really lazy)!
Showing posts with label growing up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label growing up. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
When Did This Happen?
It's amazing. When did this:
Become this:
And when did this:
Morph into this:
Every parent marvels over the growth of their children. "He's just getting so big!" They exclaim. And, "I can't believe it, I feel like just yesterday she was a newborn!" This morning, as I watched Gianna dress herself for school and Dominic fed himself Gianna's left over oatmeal, I couldn't help thinking to myself for the millionth time, "Who are these big children? And when did they get here? Where are my babies?"
A few months ago I read Sheldon Vanauken's A Severe Mercy on the recommendation of Maureen over at Little Stay at Home Momma. In it, the author shares correspondence with C.S Lewis during his conversion to Christianity. One of my favorite letters from Lewis regards his logical proof that there is some other, higher place for which we are all intended. He says,
"We are so little reconciled to time that we are even astonished at it. “How he’s grown!” we exclaim, “How time flies!” as though the universal form of our experience were again and again a novelty. It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water. And that would be strange indeed; unless of course the fish were destined to become, one day, a land animal."
Of course, that higher place where there will be no time as we know it now, is heaven. How wonderful that in the swiftly growing bodies and minds of our children we are reminded that we are just visitors here; that we are working for the Kingdom. In moments of sadness or nostalgia over our no-longer-a-baby babies, may we remember that we are destined to become, one day, inhabitants of Heaven.
Become this:
 |
And when did this:
Morph into this:
Every parent marvels over the growth of their children. "He's just getting so big!" They exclaim. And, "I can't believe it, I feel like just yesterday she was a newborn!" This morning, as I watched Gianna dress herself for school and Dominic fed himself Gianna's left over oatmeal, I couldn't help thinking to myself for the millionth time, "Who are these big children? And when did they get here? Where are my babies?"
A few months ago I read Sheldon Vanauken's A Severe Mercy on the recommendation of Maureen over at Little Stay at Home Momma. In it, the author shares correspondence with C.S Lewis during his conversion to Christianity. One of my favorite letters from Lewis regards his logical proof that there is some other, higher place for which we are all intended. He says,
"We are so little reconciled to time that we are even astonished at it. “How he’s grown!” we exclaim, “How time flies!” as though the universal form of our experience were again and again a novelty. It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water. And that would be strange indeed; unless of course the fish were destined to become, one day, a land animal."
Of course, that higher place where there will be no time as we know it now, is heaven. How wonderful that in the swiftly growing bodies and minds of our children we are reminded that we are just visitors here; that we are working for the Kingdom. In moments of sadness or nostalgia over our no-longer-a-baby babies, may we remember that we are destined to become, one day, inhabitants of Heaven.
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