Mary Angel

(11/2022) There is an old saying that time flies when you are having fun. It turns out that time flies when you have kids. If you don’t believe me, just think about it and look back.

It seems like only a week ago that my kids were in diapers and toddling around the living room. Time moves so quickly, and they go from diapers, to scooters, to bicycles, to asking to borrow the keys to the car to meet some friends. It isn’t simply them growing up that flashes by so quickly, it is actually a lot like summer break when you were a kid. At the beginning you felt like there was so much time, enough time to do all the fun things you had planned. Then, suddenly, you are doing back to school shopping and there is one week left before school starts.

When I look at how much has happened and how much life has changed in what seems like the equivalent of a summer vacation, I am in awe. Sometimes I sit down with the scrapbooks I have made over the years, and I see those pictures. You know the ones I mean, the ones that are burned into your memory. The pictures that immediately take you back to another time in your life. I have a ton of them. I was always that mom who took all the pictures, of my family, of my friend’s families, and of kids in my kid’s class. It didn’t matter where I was, I was snapping pictures, and then emailing them to people or sending copies to school for my children to distribute to what ever friend was in the picture with them. My only problem was stopping the pictures long enough to be in the moment. The pictures never stopped time from flying by, but a few pictures can take you back in time to revisit the past.

Yesterday, my oldest daughter went to prom and had her high school graduation, my baby started high school with a lot of stress and turmoil, my youngest son started college, and my oldest was working a full-time job. I started back to work after 20 years, and my husband started a new career. Life was changing quickly, and I prayed it was for good.

Last week, my first son was in driver’s education, my second son was just beginning high school, and my girls were being homeschooled and loved playing in the backyard when school was finished. The girls would get so excited when they knew the boys would soon be home from school. As a family, we were having our first experiences with teenage dating. The boys were involved with marching band at the high school and life seemed very hectic, but wonderful.

Last month, my girls began homeschooling and my boys were in middle school. The boys were not loving middle school, but the girls were so excited about homeschooling. The girls and I would drop the boys off to school, then, while they were at school we would do school, have lunch and some down time. Us girls would pile in the car and head over to pick them up from school and then everyone got a snack in the afternoon. This is the age when we began family game night and family movie night. It was busy, but a delightful time in our lives.

Last year, the boys were in elementary school and the girls were both toddlers. I had my hands full chasing two young girls and helping two elementary school boys with homework. There was a mountain of diapers to change, a boat load of laundry to do, snack and mealtimes were chaotic at times, and I was struggling with the new way of doing math (apparently two plus two wasn’t always four anymore!). My husband was travelling for work more often and I was parenting alone. "Calgon take me away" was my new catch phrase, on the rare occasion what I got to soak in a tub.

Before that I was a newlywed who had no intention of ever having children. More than that I was terrified of the idea of childbirth, babies, and everything in between. I was of the mindset that I shouldn’t be allowed to raise a child as I was still one myself, and my husband certainly had moments of adolescence. Slowly but surely, we both came around (not at the same time, naturally) and decided to start a family. Never for one moment did we believe we would have four children. As a matter of fact, I can guarantee we would have both gotten quite a laugh if anyone had suggested that would be how our lives would end up. Only as God could plan it, the girl who was terrified of little babies would eventually not only love babies but be addicted to the little darlings.

Although time is still flying by, I have gotten better at taking a few pictures and then putting the camera down and being part of the memories instead of looking through a lens at them. I still look back at the pictures and miss times that have passed, and I still can’t believe how my children have grown up so fast. However, I try to remember that there is still so much of life ahead and I look forward to all the adventures we still have ahead of us. That doesn’t mean I won’t be digging my heels in a little more to try and slow the ride down now and again. I hope you all enjoy the journey and treasure every moment. No matter where you are in life, it is a blessing!

Read other articles by Mary Angel