Time...where has it gone???

Time is ticking away as I write this. I have so many things to do, and so little time...the clock reads 5:07. Tommy will be home in 30 minutes or so. I have nothing for dinner (can I give him mac & cheese? Will he mind a hot dog for the second night in a row? ;), the loads of laundry need to be switched before that yucky smell sets in, there are toys all over the house, the dog wants to go out for the 900th time today...time...there is never enough of it, yet I have a sense these last couple of days that I need to cherish every second of this incredible phase in our lives.

Yesterday, my Connor started preschool. A milestone, yes, but nothing to cry over! Nothing to get incredibly emotional about...right??? Ugh...tell a first-time mama (to an almost 4 year old) that! ;) Preschool starts at 12:30, so at about 10:00 yesterday morning, I looked outside at the breath-takingly beautiful blue sky, and decided we couldn't NOT go for a walk on this crisp September morning. It was PERFECT, gorgeous, GLORIOUS even. Temps. in the low 60's, very slight breeze, and brilliant sunshine. I pushed Brookie in the stroller, and Connor walked beside me, stopping to look at bag worms, snail shells, and of course, to pick his mama many, many dandelions and stalks of Queen Ann's Lace. Some of the time, we walked hand in hand.

I breathed in heavily, glancing down at his not-so-chubby-anymore little hand in mine, as he skipped along. So much ahead. So many things to look forward to! Right now, he's ever so anxious about me leaving him at school, but when will the day come when he says, "Mo-om, please don't come INTO my room when you come to pick me up from school--it's soooo embarrassing"...remember those days? I sure do (so sorry, Mom :). I had such a sense of what a BLESSING we have been given..getting to raise these incredible little beings. Watch them grow and learn and become their own special little people. Wow. A song kept playing in my head...a song my mom used to sing to me, that her father used to sing to her....

TURN AROUND
Written by: Harry Belafonte, Alan Greene & Malvina Reynolds


Where are you going
My little one, little one
Where are you going
My baby, my own

Turn around and you’re two
Turn around and you’re four
Turn around and you’re a young girl (boy)
Going out of the door

Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you’re a young girl (boy)
Going out of the door

Where are you going
My little one, little one
Little pigtails and petticoats
Where have they gone

Turn around and you’re tiny
Turn around and you’re grown
Turn around and you’re a young wife
With babes of your own

Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you’re a young wife
With babes of your own

Where have they gone
My little ones, little ones
Where have they gone
My babies, my own

Turn around and they’re young
Turn around and they’re old
Turn around and they’re gone
And we’ve no one to hold

Turn around, turn around
Turn around and they’re gone
And we’ve no one to hold

Where are you going
My baby, my own

Of course, I did get a little teary during circle-time at preschool (the parents got to stay the first day). Watching my little man follow directions, find his name, and work through some real anxieties. But, good tears...only good tears. The best is yet to come, I am sure! :) Congrats to all the other "big kids" who started (are starting) school again this fall!!! Prayers for a wonderful year!!!