As Taylor Swift has now entered her engagement era, which as we all know will quickly flow into her marriage era, and possibly even her motherhood era, I can’t help but reflect on how quickly these eras pass by.
It seems like just yesterday we were in the terrified we were going to break our first baby era.
Then the how will we survive newborns and a toddler era.
The when will we ever sleep through the night era.
The constant attention and assistance era.
The learning all of the firsts era.
The planning around nap time era.
The when will we know we are done era.
The era in which days truly could last forever.
However we blinked, and realized it is true: the days are long, but the years are short. They literally fly by.
Suddenly my husband and I find ourselves in foreign territory.
It is the end of our parenting very young kids era.
We have a child entering his high school era, two starting their middle school eras, and our baby is finishing up her primary school era.
This era is strange.
We go to parks that used to seem so big and now seem tiny next to our giant children.
When we attend events, we wonder if our kids will be the oldest there.
Our clothes get mixed up with our kids’ clothes in the wash.
Some of us are now shorter than our children.
We talk about hygiene and go deodorant shopping.
We flip between somewhat normal conversations to wondering who possessed our children within seconds.
This era is confusing.
One minute, they don’t want anything to do with you; the next, they are all up in your space.
They don’t want to play with any toys, and then one day, that’s all they want to do.
They like you, they hate you, they like you, they hate you, every 10 minutes on repeat.
We alternate between thinking they are so mature and that they’ve lost every brain cell on a regular basis.
We cling to the times they want to be with us and let them spread their wings when that’s what they need.
It’s hard to know when they are laughing or crying. Or when we are.
This era is busy.
Their sports and activities dictate our schedules.
We are essentially chauffeurs.
Their academic expectations sky-rocket.
We are busier than we ever imagined possible.
Scheduling is a giant puzzle and an impressive juggling feat.
We’re still not sure when we will ever sleep.
This era is expensive.
We are in the paying for braces (x4) era.
The travel sports era.
The new driver, car, and insurance era.
The thinking about college era.
The never having any leftovers era.
We are walking ATMs.
But this new era is also pretty awesome.
We can leave home for a quick errand or date without having to find and pay a sitter.
We watch movies together, and they don’t have to be G rated animated ones.
We play games that keep us all entertained and challenged.
We can take more adventurous trips.
We get glimpses into their future grown-up selves.
We have real conversations and enjoy our time together.
This era is hilarious.
We get to hear them teasing one another about crushes.
Pimple patches (aka zit stickers) and random body hair are cool.
The most random things are funny.
We shake our heads, shrug, and laugh a lot, because what else can you do?
This new era can be scary, like anything unknown tends to be.
There’s a lot of letting go.
A lot of trial and error.
A lot of hoping and praying.
To be honest, so far each era has been better than the last.
This tween/teen era is about rolling with the dichotomies. Embracing the awkwardness and all of the changes, smells and mood swings that come along with it.
We are in our knowing these years are flying by era, and cherishing every moment.
It’s funny, entertaining, and pretty awesome to get a front row seat to watch our own rock stars figure out their individual jam.
