Where Did the Time Go?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2003
Where Did the Time Go?
5
Tue, 08-22-2006 - 3:16pm

Did you ever just look at your teen, for a minute or whatever, and ask yourself, "My God, where did the time go? When did she get this big all of a sudden?". Nothing I think prepared me for how quickly these kids develop and grow and change as much as they do in their teenage years.

Just this AM as my daughter dressed to go to a dance camp she joined for a week, and I looked at her in her dancewear, looking so mature and grown up the thought just struck me. She's going into 10th grade! She is going to be 15! When did this happen?

Just a year ago she was enterring high school, shy, reserved, nervous about the long walk to school, meeting new friends, etc. Now here she is just a year later so much more mature and aware and confident going to friends' homes, socializing, thinking beyond her day to day selfish needs. Oh sure, alot of challenges come with that as we all know around here...but all in all its amazing to see how quickly they develop. And alot of those challenges come from us, desparately trying to hang on to them as children...

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-14-2006
Tue, 08-22-2006 - 5:52pm
Boy do I hear you as I sit here missing my dd that went to college last Wednesday. Even though it is only a 25 minute ride away it seems so much further. In my eyes she is still the toddler I took to the playground but that is not the reality. She is a mature young woman ready to take the world on, actually more mature than I was at that age. Enjoy the few remaining years of high school with your daughter, they pass much too quickly.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-18-2005
Tue, 08-22-2006 - 6:27pm

You said: >>>>>Did you ever just look at your teen, for a minute or whatever, and ask yourself, "My God, where did the time go? When did she get this big all of a sudden?".<<<<

LOL Just about every day! Sometimes my DD takes my breath away at how grown she looks and how she carries herself. How can it be when I can still see her first steps and hear her first words in my head?!

There are definitely challenges, too, as you said, but the changes in independence and maturity are amazing!

Sue

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Tue, 08-22-2006 - 8:41pm
I just got home from dropping my youngest one off at college and I'm really feeling the "where did the time go?" right now. DH is having a much harder time with this than I and it makes me wonder if I'm a horrible mother. I haven't cried much and I'm not moping around like I just lost my best friend. I'm trying very hard to take the attitude that this is what God gave them to me for - to raise and teach them to fly. I think we've done that well and I'm looking at the future with excitement and anticipationf or them. At least that's the outlook today, I'm sure it will hit me when I least expect it and I'll be boo-hooing like a baby in the middle of the PopTarts at Kroger.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-18-2005
Tue, 08-22-2006 - 8:56pm

>>I'm trying very hard to take the attitude that this is what God gave them to me for - to raise and teach them to fly.<<

I love this attitude - rather than being sad about their need for independence or at a "loss" of the baby, we can focus on the growing adult!

Thanks for the uplift!

BTW Good luck with the new collegee student!

Sue

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2004
Wed, 08-23-2006 - 11:43am

Someone read my mind.

My daughter is leaving Saturday for college, she is only 25 minutes away and is coming home on the weekends, but this is killing me. I too can remember changing diapers and wishing she would just be potty trained, I guess I wished for her to grow up too much. I am loosing my sidekick, that is what everyone asks when she is not with me.

Enjoy the high school years, they are a roller coaster but lots of high points. My daughter is a dancer too, this was her last year and she was soooo sad and I bawled like a baby at recital. Cherish every moment, I'm sure you will.

Prayers and good wishes to all the moms wondering where the time went.

Andie