The many phases of life

There was a time in my life when I worried I was heartless.  I heard stories about mothers that dropped their kids off for the first day of kindergarten and cried because they were going to school...or various other related stories like that and I just can't relate.  I never cried about anything like that.  As a matter of fact, I always found myself a little excited (mostly for them but maybe a teensy bit for me too).  Don't get me wrong, there are lots of things I cry about (usually when my three kids pass a great milestone I shed some tears for Braden and the things that will never be) and I LOVED having babies, then toddlers, then elementary aged kids and so on...And lately I have experienced some sad moments as I realize how fast time has gone and I wish I could have my babies back (NOTE:  I do not want NEW babies...I want the babies I already had back again.  What I really want is a time machine.)

But as I was loading my pictures from Christmas onto my computer tonight, I started thinking about right now...and about how much I LOVE having teenagers (and no, I'm not on medication).

In the past, when we decorated the Christmas tree, I would divide up all the ornaments into three equal piles so there would be no fighting about who got to hang more ornaments.  That time has (thankfully) passed and now we just open the box and everyone works together.  This year was the most fun I've had decorating the tree as I stood back and took pictures and just let them have at it.  Colby seems to have a sixth sense about when the camera is going to take a pictures, so he managed to pull faces in EVERY SINGLE PICTURE.

The old me would have been angry but I was laughing so hard Patrick said my cackling was drowning out the Christmas music on the camcorder...oops.

Just as I was finally getting some good pictures, Savannah decided it was time to try to make sure she was front and center for every picture by diving into the shot at the last second.  Her timing was impeccable.

 In response to the terrible gift wrapping (see previous post) that Patrick does (and that they were laughing about for a week), they wrapped one of his gifts like this:

Any guesses what it is? HA HA

There is something really GREAT about leaving the past behind and moving into a new phase of life...and every phase is just as great in it's own way.  Now instead of having to bathe them, pick up after them, feed them, put them to bed, and wear myself out in the process I get to let them do all those things for themselves and I get to just enjoy being with them.  We have fun and funny discussions at the dinner table, we can enjoy more grown up movies and t.v. shows, play tolerable games together and they help with the chores instead of just following me around making new messes.  Sure, presents for teenagers are more expensive than presents for little kids, but the whole Christmas season is more relaxed.  Mostly, they just make me LAUGH...every single day.

So, I'm sad that my babies are gone, and I suppose I will be sad when my teenagers are gone too.  But at the same time, I will be moving into yet another phase of life and I'm sure there will be great things there too.  I need to remember that, so I'm ready to enjoy it and I don't waste time regretting the past that's gone.