When Her Face Gets Long...

I dropped the Meatball off at DAYCARE for the last time today.

$68,000 worth of days and care.

A Lincoln Navigator's worth of TLC.

Each and every single copper coin well spent.

First the Monkey and now the Meatball.

Both now chapters in a book not yet finished. Every page read, carefully  torn from the binding and folded up into imperfect, little, paper airplanes that forever glide above a wind that has no clear destination.

Running races to the door. So many running races. I let them win every single one.

The Starbucks is right next door.

Winters accompanied by steaming hot Grandes. Summers flush with Iced Ventis.

The kid behind the counter knows my name. I didn't even say goodbye.

Will he wonder where I've gone?

I'd like to think he will.

This day took forever to arrive. Like a final exam, I couldn't wait for it to end. Summer on the otherside, if I could just make it till then.

If you don't stay in the moment, if you don't stay right smack dab in the middle of the God Damn running races, time will pass you in the HOV lane like an angry Taxi.

The Meatball graduates from Preschool today and I suppose I do too.

Both of us passed that final exam after all and as promised, the summer was waiting on the other side.

The Meatball's face is still round. A sure sign that we still have time.

Time to procrastinate.

Time to prepare.

Time to study for the next final exam.

The Monkey's face was round too once.

When the face gets long, the innocence begins to fade.

An observation that seems like fact as far as I can tell.

This is how you tell time as a parent. Just watch the face. Watch it like you would a flower, blooming in time lapse.

It seems slow but it wants to trick you.

The Meatball's face is still round.

I'm going to watch it like a flower starting right now...

Comments

  1. you have simply and eloquently with subtle humor summarized how i have been feeling this year. where has all the time gone. how can my 1st baby be hairy man cub with body odor who texts girls!? how can my baby baby use phrases like "wet dream and that's what she said"?!!! these were the boys who would cuddle and hug me and swear allegiance to me, vowing never to leave me... and now they seem to be sprinting towards independence. it is an amazing things to see them bloom, but I miss the little buds now and again... great, great post! one of your best. Lisa (LisaHeartsHarry)

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  2. Damnit! You made me cry again.

    And re: the round/long face theory... just wondering - when, in older life, one's face gets round again due to, er, food and wine circumstances, are we resolved now to just say we're regaining our innocence? I'm liking that.

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  3. Love this post. As others have said, definitely among your best.

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  4. i want the meatball to stay a meatball. happy graduation day to us! beautiful post! xoxo YUV

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  5. This is a heartfelt post that I understand all too well. Beautifully written.

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  6. "Every page read, carefully torn from the binding and folded up into imperfect, little, paper airplanes that forever glide above a wind that has no clear destination."
    Just beautiful and a little sad. I have one daughter entering her senior year of high school and the other starting all-day kindergarten. Paper airplanes all over the place.

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  7. You are a riot. Post on BlogCatalog, we miss you!!!!!

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  8. I love this post, beautiful, heartfelt and so true.

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