A Glimpse Into My Future

Do you ever sit back and think about next year or 5 years from now? Do you look at your kids and wonder how their looks will change by next year or how tall they'll be when they're finished growing? I do. I can't help it but I look at their baby pictures and see how much they've changed and yet see that some things have never changed. I wonder where life's road will take them, what their journey will involve.
I look into their bedrooms and see toys on the floor, High School Musical, Hannah Montana and Camp Rock items everywhere. I see girly looking items spread through out the room. I watch as they take an interest in carrying a purse, filling it with their most prized and needed possessions. You know things like lip gloss, trading cards, a few dollars, some pictures and a small stuffed animal. Yes, those are the things they want in their purse now. But in a few short years, I'm sure that will change drastically. I watch everyday as they grow, change and become individuals. And yet they're still kids, my kids. I realize that one day soon, I'll miss the toys on the floor, the character items spread throughout, the TV on the Disney Channel and the innocence of their ages now. I'll miss going into a store and watching them squeal with delight as they see a toy or book that they don't have. I watch them get excited over the simple pleasures in life. I wish that joy could stay with them for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, life usually has a way of making our joys harder to find and our problems easier to surface. And while my girls want so bad to grow up, I want so badly for them to NOT. I don't want them to grow up, grow away and be faced with the realities of the adult world. I know I cannot stop it but I can still wish.
I've watched as Barney has gone from a best friend to an unnecessary stuffed animal that's for babies. I've watched them become less interested in Mickey and Minnie Mouse and more interested in real live mice. I've achingly watched as the Disney Princesses no longer hold their attention and they certainly don't want to dress up as one on Halloween. Instead our Disney Princess costumes have become skeleton bride costumes, devils and anything as far from a Princess as I could imagine. Not what I thought my girls would like a few years ago. So today as I try to get a glimpse into my future, I also realize that it may look differently once it actually happens. I may picture them as a model student in school, a black belt in karate and just angelic in their actions. But what I may see may be more like those new Halloween costumes they've began liking! But for now I'll sit back and enjoy the toys on the floor, the character toys that crowd the house, the squeals of delight that prove they're still kids and the hugs, kisses and "I love you, Mom"s that make me smile with delight. I'll continue to look ahead and wonder what their life will be like when they're 16, 18, 25 and even 40. And I'll continue to see things as I want to whether it's how they really happen or not!
So for every stuffed animal I've tripped over, every Lego block I've stepped on, every crayon that's left marks where it shouldn't have, for every tear, every smile and every moment that I have lived with and will live with my children, I will enjoy it. I will look back and realize that it wasn't so bad after all. Tripping over, stepping on and cleaning up after was part of their growing up and it wasn't the biggest problem in the world, though it may have seemed like it at the time. Now I miss those times....I miss Barney and Sleeping Beauty. I miss the cute, short picture books and the pictures that were drawn of people missing eyes or ears or having hands where ears should be.....yes I already miss the children they were but love the girls they've become!