Skip to main content

on hold

 

 


Some mornings my son wakes up and I swear he is bigger than I left him from the night before.
His doorframe is filled with sharpie marks.
And even though he is tiny for his age, he is always bigger every time he stands flat footed at the door while I make my mark.
Marks that are slowly creeping up the post.

And just a few hours ago he blew out five candles on his birthday cake.
And five feels like forty.
Because I don’t remember what it was like before he got here.

And I love that I get to watch him grow.
But lately it has seemed a little too fast.

Everyday he needs me less and less.
Which is the point of course.
To raise an independent man who hopefully will love God and love others.

But for now,
I’d kind of like the sharpie marks to stay put for just a little while.


(So I know this prompt and this day deserves a much better post, but I just ran off 20ish 5 year olds who wore me out with water balloons and silly string and slime. I'm exhausted. And this is all I've got. This post is part of creativity boot camp and today's random word prompt is growth. Which was pretty appropriate for my guy's birthday)
boot camp
Posted by Picasa

Comments

Wendy said…
I hear ya! I had such a busy day - and my post after creating the actual project was too much.

Nice job!
Look at that yummy cake!!!
And I think this was perfect, don't sell it short. There's such a bittersweetness about this whole watching children grow thing. It's painful, and so heartwarming at the same time.
Unknown said…
I think that was a lovely post. I always struggle with the joys of seeing Jackson grow mixed with the sadness of letting go of "the little." I know we are supposed to raise independent adults...but I think we also have to relish the dependence as well.

Popular posts from this blog

different

Someone recently sent me a meme about tattoos. I reminded them that I have over half a dozen, although none in such obvious places as the picture. I thought about it while I washed my hair, and how once my hair was also purple, and what kind of memes could be found about that. And also, my nose was pierced. Other than the first two tattoos, none of these were things I did in my youth. All were in my thirties. Currently my hair is a plain brown in a sensible cut. My tattoos all easily hidden with most clothing and only my ears are pierced. As this decade closes I have made efforts to dress more professionally, drink less, stay on top of the laundry although I still refuse to make my bed and talk at an appropriate volume level. Yet, I only looked back on my purple-haired days with longing rather than regret. See, I used to do those things to be different.   Sometimes I’d feel just a little trapped by my suburban life although perfect, felt a little too predictable. I fel...

voice

I remember waking up the day after the election tired and stunned. When I got to work I went downstairs to make copies and make some tea and did not make it back to my classroom until right before the tardy bell rang. I have a large class, full of all kinds of students from all kinds of backgrounds. I had not even thought about how they would respond to the election and that since we begin school so early that I might be the first adult they saw that day.  Immediately an African American on the front row told me that she was disappointed in our country. I teach science, not government and thought that I needed to turn the conversation as quickly as I could safely back to the objectives on the board, but I could not ignore her hurt and the rest of the quiet in the room. I told her that  regardless of what candidate she supported that this country is run by more than one person, that very soon she would be able to vote, that she had a voice. Behind her, a student that also ha...

multiple choice

As I write I am procturing a test ( yes on a Saturday, and no I am not getting paid for it.) The room is silent. The only noises I hear are pencils scratching on papers and pages turning. If I listen closely enough I swear I can hear their brains turning. I have always been a good test-taker. I would still regularly brag about my SAT scores if it wre socially appropriate to do so(or an actual indicator of anything meaningful). There is something comforting about multiple choice. (well as long as you don't have the crappy all of the above or none of the above choices...just the classic A, B, C, D variety). There are parameters. Multiple choice means you have options. The right answer is right in front of you, and all you have to do is find it. Even if you don't actually know which one the right answer is there are usually clues, it can be narrowed down or worked backwards. Even a blind guess is likely to be right 25% of the time. These aren't bad odds. All you have t...