The author (not pictured) took her four teens on a vacation.
Courtesy of the author
I had no idea that the last bedtime story I read my kids would be the last ever. Or that the last time I held them — or kissed a scraped knee or sang them a silly song — would be the last time I'd do any of those things.That's a good thing, of course. It saved me, at least in the moment, from the pain of knowing those sweet little rituals were coming to an end. But realizing it later opens the door to a new awareness of just how quickly it all goes. And, for me anyway, a new dread that it will be over far faster than I'm comfortable with.Parenting teens has a weird finality to itUnlike when your kids are little, and their needy period seems to drag infinitely (and exhaustingly) on, there's this weird sense of finality when you're parenting teens and young adults. Because one of the things that happens as your kids get older is that you realize just how painfully true that adage is — you know, the one you rolled your eyes at as the weary parent of a toddler — "The days are long, but the years are short."
The author says time does fly when raising kids.
Courtesy of the author
