Diapers and Diplomas

I just posted this to my "Today's Parent's Blog" but wanted to share it here too! If you enjoy reading my blog you can check out my TP blog as I am writing different things for the two blogs somedays and always appreciate comments and hearing your stories!

http://blogs.todaysparent.com/category/five/

Whoever decided to charge an admission to my son's Bantam hockey game did not realize the awkward position they were putting the parent volunteering at the gate in when they set the prices at : "Parents- $5" and "Grandparents- $2". As a sea of unfamiliar faces came towards me from the opposition's team, I realized it wasn't all that easy to determine which spectators were parents and which were Grandparents. One at a time the fans would approach and ask, " How much is it to get in?" I diplomatically gestured to the sign and replied, " Here are the rates." and then hope I gave them the right change. A few times I was quite surprised so I decided to just assume everyone was a parent and then the worst that could happen was giving someone of an advanced age a compliment!

Standing in the loby of the rink at my appointed post I had time to think over my own age. For now I guess I would be considered a young or average aged parent. My oldest is now 13 so he is graduating middle school at the end of this year! I officially will have "Diapers and Diplomas!" When Levi graduates high school, the baby Ellie will be in Kindergarten and somewhat scarier the year Ellie graduates High School, Levi will turn 30! I could very well be a grandmother with one kid still in Elementary! I wonder what memories if anyEllie will have of the time when we all lived under one roof together. There aren't too many things I remember from before I was five and even those memories I do have I wonder if they are from stories I was told or photos and videos I have seen. That makes me a bit sad to know that my kids will never be in public school full time together.

Everyone says time with your kids will go by quickly and I don't think you ever really believe when you are right in the middle of the chaos. What I need is a time machine so I can go back and forth between now and the retirement home. There are days when I would like nothing better than to sleep in, have someone pick out my clothes then make my lunch, followed by a game of Bingo or one of my "stories" , a mid afternoon nap, some cross stitch or quilting before my five o clock supper, the early news and then tuck into bed by eight for a full night sleep. Right now that kind of day sounds to me like a little piece of sanity in an otherwise crazy life. And I am sure, when someday I reach the retirement home stage in my life, I will long for nothing more than a wild and crazy day full of hugs and tickles, dance and hockey, forgotten lunches, cancelled school buses, baking cookies for class parties, five bucks for hot lunch day and falling into bed exhausted at midnight wishing I would have one spare minute to do a jumping jack or two.
Whatever stage of life you are at I hope you can remember to enjoy it. We can't go back, and we can't skip forward the best we can do is be fully present in the here and now before you know it you will be paying $2 to get in the gate!