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As Time Flies

This seems to be the year for "the last time" experience.

Because my youngest child is a senior, this is the last time I will be part of a tennis season--the last time I will help with a tennis banquet, drive a child to the courts, wash uniforms, sit nervously during a match, chat with other parents between the courts.

Because my youngest child is a senior, this is the last time I will be part of a marching band season and concert band, too--the last time I will attend a band picnic, volunteer at a band show, design the season's T-shirt, typeset the concert programs, attend concerts as a parent of someone on stage, pick up uniforms at the dry cleaners, shuttle a child to and from practices.

Because my youngest child is a senior, this is the last time I will drive someone to school in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. This is the last time I will have a child in my house for the school year. This is the last time I will have to nag in the morning because a child has ignored her alarm clack. This is the last time I will wash a child's laundry on a regular basis.

For seven years, this band/tennis/high school schedule has dictated my life, but this is the last time, and I don't know how to live any other way. I have forgotten what it's like not to have a child in high school. When your kids are small, and you wonder at how much they need you, and someone with more parenting experience tells you they'll need you more when they are teenagers, you should believe them. It may seem impossible at the time, but it's true.

So, this is the last time, and I can't even think about how time flies without having to wipe away a few tears.

Comments

dive said…
Robyn, be glad for all of those times and make sure you really enjoy this one last time.
And then take a deep breath and launch into your new life; your new freedom.
It may be scary but it's all yours. Try out the line "and she lived happily ever after."
8:34 AM
peahen said…
The passage of time has always scared me, and I think enjoying a routine and being worried about change are human traits.

Enjoy 'this last time' and think about the time you'll have to knit & practise horn!
8:57 AM
Anonymous said…
I have a Senior this year and another 2 years from now. Honestly Robyn, I can't wait. I know, I say that now and will most likely be bawling my eyes out when Ethan is a Senior but I am tired! Just yesterday I left work early to attend his football game. First play he ran down and tackeled the guy who was returning the ball from the kick off. Yea well, we got home from the emergency room at 8pm last evening! But he did cause the guy to fumble and we did win the game!
9:45 AM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
Never say never Robyn. I would tend to doubt some of those "Last times" you mentioned.
10:12 AM
Scout said…
Dive, I know you're right. It's hardly the end of life. It's just the end of an era.

Peahen, I do like knitting and playing my horn. More time for those things then.

Prudence, I know that tired feeling. Ever heard the phrase "I'm not tired. I'm tired of it"? That applies here sometimes.

Rich, I'll still do a lot of those things, I'm sure, but never again as the mother of a teenager.
10:18 AM
Gina said…
Aww, that must be hard.

Over here, we are battling about Junior Kindergarten and having to go everyday and being told what to do instead of doing his own thing. Oy.
5:23 PM
Anonymous said…
Robyn, I feel your pain...or should I say angst. I remember so well that feeling of the "lasts" with band/dance/Crimsonian staff/high school/youth group/CORE. Man, the senior year was the best ever, and I hated for it to be over...but now there's Cedarville, and oh what a wonderful place! #2 should consider it...!!!!!
PF
8:15 AM
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