Moment by Moment

"The years are short, but the days are long." There's a reason for such cliches. More and more, I recognize their truth. Today at the park, a woman asked me how old BB was. "She'll be three in January," I replied, all the while thinking, Really? Three years? Where has all that time gone?

Living that reality is a large part of being a parent, I think. And yet here I am, watching the clock and hurrying through nap time and counting the hours until S gets home from work. All the while recognizing that like most days the next three hours will likely feel twice as long. Especially those last 15 minutes before he's due home. The kids have been missing him quite a bit lately, because he's had to work more than usual, so if we're just hanging around the house I often get a barrage of "Is Daddy home yet? Is he? When will he be home?"

If I'm smart, after nap time I'll head out to a park or something. We've already been to the library and to the park behind the library this morning. But we're big fans of the park, and two trips in one day wouldn't be unheard of.

One of the things I like best about having my parents around is that I'm better able to appreciate life moment by moment. When it's just me and the kids, life seems to get in the way of that. I have my good days -- sometimes really good days -- but I also spend too much time being too harried, too tired, too rushed trying to get things done. I love that my parents are so low-key about their visits. Whatever we're doing, they're along for the ride. So we end up doing many of the same things we usually do -- trips to the library, visits to the park, various errands -- but instead of feeling outnumbered by the short folks I'm able to ease up a bit and enjoy everything that much more.

I'm sure it helps things that my dad is so good at capturing those moments as they happen on his camera. Here's a collection of moments from their visit.

At the park....

Visiting the bakery...
In the backyard...


At the park again (a different park)....


Making cake with Giki....
Hanging out with a katydid found on the porch....


Making playdoh with Pop-pop and Giki while S and I went on a date (an actual date!)
Today I'm vowing anew to appreciate these moments as they happen, because we received the very welcome news that we will be moving in the near future. As part of the benefit of S's secondary position at the college, we are eligible for on-campus housing. Finally, after we've been on a waiting list for years, a three bedroom and two bath apartment will be opening up. We got the news last night that we've been approved to move in. I love our little bungalow, but after years of two adults, two kids, and two cats in our two bedroom one bath home, we're ready for a change. It will probably be January before the move happens, but now I'm finding myself acutely aware that this will be our last Thanksgiving in this house, our last Christmas. It's easy to notice with the big days like that; I'm trying to notice it with the little moments, too.