Oh my goodness, I am getting old.

My daughter starts kindergarten tomorrow.  Kindergarten.  My little cherub with the chubby cheeks and stickin out ears is going to school.  She can count to 100, she can sound out words, she can draw better than I can.  How did this happen?  Where did the time go?  I feel like a broken record these days, wondering what the heck happened to speed time up over the past ten years.  Wasn't I just in university?  Wasn't I just married?  Wasn't I just pregnant?  Nope.  Time has passed, and it has left me behind.  I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this boat.

So, tomorrow when I drop my daughter off at school for the very first time, will I cry?  Yes.  Will I be proud?  Incredibly.  Will I want to stay all afternoon to make sure her teacher is doing everything right and realizing her full potential as the gifted child she is?  YES...I am a teacher after all.

So, how do I make all this SLOW down a little?  This one baffles me.  My baby, who I swear is a newborn, will be one in a month and a couple days.  ONE!  Are you kidding me?  Where did that year go?  I suppose the same time fairy who stole my oldest girl's first five years stole my little one's first year too.  Damn time fairies!  I would like to lock you up and send you far, far away so I can just enjoy my life, thank you very much.

But seriously, we only have today right?  The past ten years have gone by at lightning speed for me, and I know the next ten will go even faster.  I need to take a step back and enjoy it.  I would love to just hit the pause button and freeze my kids where they are, or even rewind a little, but alas, this is not a reality.  I suppose I have to really make the most of what I have, and the moments to come.  I can't let my life pass me by.  These events are really making me think that I shouldn't wait to live.  I should cherish each and every moment I have right now, and not get tied up in knots about the future.  Tomorrow when I drop my kid off at school, I will take a mental snapshot of the moment she walks away from me, and file it under "Important Stuff I Don't Want to Forget." 

Man, I feel old today.  Why am I not 18 any more?  Wasn't I just that young yesterday?  Where did it all go?