Putting Away Childish Things

 “Annie put stuff away, too, the way kids do – her dolls and the squishy blue doggie her mom had made for her out of an old towel when she was a baby.”

That is a line from Crooked Little Lies, a Kindle First book by Barbara Taylor Sissel that I'm reading. The line seems innocuous and obvious.  Of course kids grow up. You can't help but know that. Its pretty much the one thing you hear repeatedly as a new parent.

"Take pictures, it goes quick. They grow up so quickly. Getting big, isn't he/she. Appreciate them while they are young." And one of my favorite that we tell sleep deprived, addled and barely functioning new parents: "you'll miss this time when its gone."

WAIT, say WHAT?

I looked up from the book. Damned if they haven’t grown.  WAIT; WHAT?

Sure enough: What were once just little baby carrots were now full grown carrots.  Ok, so that might be a bit hyperbolic.  They clearly aren’t full grown. But when did this happen?  When?  I demand to know WHEN!

Maybe that is me in the middle; or on the right.

I’ve always tried being a cool cucumber about this whole aging thing. When my wife would say “we are getting old” or “they are growing up,” my stock response is: “it sure beats the alternative.”

I guess I first realized we were in fact getting old here. But now we are getting serious.  My kids are growing up. I look at them and wonder how they got so big. They don't even look like kids anymore. At this point they sometimes look like young adults. And I know some day, maybe not for years, but maybe tomorrow, Sadie will put away her dolls and we will never play baby again.

Just like Annie. 

And even though my kids tell me they never, ever, under any circumstances, want to live on their own, I think: how long till they put me away?

It is sad. And I know: I should have seen this coming. It’s a fact of life.  And as I said, its not like parents aren’t given adequate notice. We do nothing but remind them/us.

Still. It sneaks up on you.

And like so many life lessons, its something words can't teach you - you only learn it by doing it.

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