Guilty as charged

All right, I admit I have fallen into the trap of being one of those parents that somehow ended up treating the baby of the family different. On Saturday as we were driving out for another buggin adventure and I looked over my shoulder and there I saw my baby.

So often we catch a good glimpse of our kids and think wow, where has the time gone by? They seem to have grown taller, filled out more or even became smarter over night. This glimpse was different. There sitting on his booster seat was my five year old. On this day he was just that, a little guy wearing blue jean short overalls with his bike helmet still on, hanging out the open window loving the wind in his face.

Then it hit me. When that first little bundle of joy comes home we are eager to see what they can do. We can't wait for them to sit up, or crawl or say those first words. Sure watching them grow up is hard but it is exciting all the same. It seems that those babies are just as eager as us to see what they themselves can accomplish. By the time your third, fourth (or whatever number seems good for you) comes along you tend to take time by the horns and try your best to slow it down. Now when your child says bergot instead of forgot you smile and let it go. When they insist on taking a dish towel to bed because they spilled some water on their p.j's you laugh it off and accept it. The messes they make, the food they refuse to eat, none of it is as important any more. The training wheels stay on longer, the booster seat stays in the truck longer and best of all the hugs last longer.

Oh if only we could fathom this wise information with our first child. If only we could take the time and let kids be kids for just a moment longer.

Last night, after a bike ride around the goose pond my baby decided he wanted to try his bike without training wheels. Some (like Blaine) would think this is a big thing. No training wheels at all, anymore for that matter. Me, I look at it as time taking away another piece of my baby.