Eternal Preschool

I have a confession to make. I'm scared of teenagers. Well, I'm not really scared of them as persons... I'm scared of having some of my own.

At church yesterday, I was talking to a parent of a teen. He was telling me how quickly time has passed and that having a teenager is so different.  Then it suddenly dawned on me.  I'm going to have some of those one day. I got scared. It's not that I'm realizing this for the first time. Obviously, I know that kids grow up  and that it's all natural and we can't stop it from happening.  But you see, I'm a mom of preschoolers. The world I live in seems eternal.  My days are very much the same: feed them, clean them, play with them, clean up after them, feed them, feed them,clean up, put them to bed.

Both of my kids love to pretend.  Abby pretends to be everything from tigers to princesses. Caedmon prefers to be a fireman or one of the characters from Busytown Mysteries. And they like for me to pretend too, usually at the same time. So most days I'm Sleeping Beauty Sally Cat.

And I often get frustrated with the same conversations and same pretend play day after day. And not only that, but the endless cycle that is laundry and cleaning the house! It's enough to make a person crazy some days!

But I realized yesterday that eventually they will be teenagers, and these days of eternal preschool will be a distant memory.  Some day my little boy that looks up at me with those deep blue eyes and says "Holda me. I loves you, Sally!" will be asking me for the car keys.  And my precious little girl that begs me to play make-up with her and then smears eye shadow all over my face will one day think I have no sense of style and will keep her own private diary! <gasp!>

And then I realize how much of my day I spend rushing onto the next errand. Pushing towards the next task. Trying to achieve the perfect home. I don't want to rush this time or waste it on the unimportant.  I want to enjoy it.


This is my reminder to myself:

"Why are you always rushing?
Always worried, always toiling.
The house can wait. Your children can't.
The dishes will have to be washed again later. Let them wait.
Childhood is calling. Play. Pretend.
The days of pirates and princesses will not always linger.
Race cars and choo-choo trains do not wait.
Stop playing with "instruction" and "teachable moments" always on your mind.
Leave your grown-up world. Enter your child's.
Be amazed. Wonder. Dream.
Have camp-outs under the kitchen table.
Picnic in the grass next to the sandbox.
For soon that imaginative child that never seems to stop talking and has boundless energy
will be all grown up.
The trucks will be placed in the attic.
The dress-up clothes that carpet the floor will no longer fit.
The toys which never seem to be put away and the markers with mismatched lids will not be your permanent decor.
This is a season. The best advice I've ever received for this season: Enjoy your kids."


So, if you will excuse me, both of my kids are now awake and it's time for Sleeping Beauty Sally Cat to solve some mysteries in the princess beauty salon.