A Year in the Life of a Child

The older I get, the faster time goes by. College seems like it was last week, high school last year, and kindergarten about five years ago. As I type this, my fingers are succumbing to arthritis, my knee is predicting rain tomorrow, and my eyesight is going down the tubes. It's as if life is passing me by, and I don't even realize it.

But it wasn't always this way. As a child I remember when lunchtime was an eternity away, weekends were like a vacation, and one year felt like two. The only thing that came quickly was bedtime.

A powerful thing

Now I see a year in a child's life for what it really is... a powerful and influential period of time. This fact was very evident during a recent trip over the river and through the woods, to Grandma's (and Grandpa's) house.

We no longer live by my parents, but for the first 13 months of Princess P's life, we did. Between the trips to Cranial Tech in Chicago, dinner at the Grandparent's house, and various other activities, Princess P got a lot of face-time with my parents. Then we moved.

Since Princess P was only 13 months old, I figured she would adjust fairly well, cause Mommy and Daddy would remain constant, and that was the most important thing. For the most part, she handled the move like a champ, but three years later, there's no denying the connection she made with Grandma and Grandpa during her initial year of life.

She remembers

She remembers the toys, the house, the faces, the car, the games. She remembers way more than I ever though she would. She remembers the bed, the books, the stuffed animals... and the love. So be careful how you spend the next year of your child's life. No matter how old your child is, he or she will remember... good or bad, they will remember.