Where does the time go???

When I was pregnant, older women were always telling me how fast babies grow up. “Oh enjoy every minute, it goes so fast!” I heard it so often that by the 9th month I would smile and nod and think to myself, “yeah, yeah I know.” Grumpy third trimester thoughts, we’re all over getting advice by then right? ☺

Well, here I am, five years later asking myself, “where the hell has the time gone?” My son is now five years old and last night he lost his first tooth. Didn’t he just get teeth???
I told my husband I felt like we were going to wake up tomorrow and be 50.

It was so cute and comical how proud he was of his lost tooth. He was hopping around, unable to sit still, calling his grandparents and announcing his accomplishment. It is so funny to me that he sails right through the milestones he works to achieve, as if it was no big deal, but the tooth falling out…well that is a right of passage that simply must be celebrated.



Celebrate we did, the tooth-fairy came, he got pizza for dinner and we all talked about how great it is that he is getting so big. I must confess, I would be just as happy if he slowed down a bit. Stayed little a bit longer. Ah, they grow up so fast….wait am I saying that now?? YES!!!

I took him to visit my mom recently. She lives on a wonderful island up here in the Northwest and it is a pretty tight community. The shopkeepers on Main Street have seen my son over the years on our many visits. On our last trip, we were shopping and went into one of my favorite shops. They had signs hung all over the walls and my son stood under them, reading them all aloud. He was just entertaining himself while I browsed. I am used to him reading everything in sight, he’s been doing it since he was 3!! The shopkeeper turned to me and said, “you only got to have a baby for a minute didn’t you?” Lump in throat I said, “yes, it really feels that way to me.”

He is really ahead of the curve and that has made him feel more adult to me at an earlier age. Because he is advanced, it feels like he grew up so much quicker, like he was a little man at 3. We were living in London for part of his third year and we would spend each day out and about exploring the city. I felt like I was hanging out with my friend not very small child. He knew his way around every bit as well as I did and had the underground system memorized. One night I was in our flat making dinner and he walked in and asked me, “is the Indian Ocean warm or cold I need to know because I am trying to figure out what kind of whales live there?”...huh? Now, he is reading the first Harry Potter on his own in bed and does algebra in his head. GULP.
I know having a gifted child seems like it is just a straight out blessing but in truth it is more complicated than that. Do I really let him take his SAT’s in 6th grade and go to University at 12? Where did my baby go? I am trying to take it all as it comes and just love every minute of the journey that is parenting…even if they journey is taking my places I never thought I’d go.