Today Alex turned seven. As his birthday was rapidly approaching, I really did my best to savor the remaining days of life with a six-year-old. It seems like Alex's childhood is flying by making me so aware of how fleeting and sweet this time is. In December, we were cramming in as many fun, kid, holiday events as we could realizing that we may have very few Christmases left believing in Santa. Then the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT happened. It hit close to home because I know what six looks like.
Six is that magical time of toothless grins, laughter, singing, and playing from waking in the morning until going to sleep at night. It's the time of finding knock knock jokes hysterical and learning a new thing every day. It's the time of being independent enough to do things on your own, but young and innocent enough to carelessly enjoy everything before the reality and sometimes disappointing outside world takes that away.
It's the sweet spot of parenting. Your child is old enough not to be watched every second and to do things on his own like get dressed. He's also still young enough to sit on your lap and cuddle. You can still hold his hand while you are walking home from school without him pulling away so as not to be embarrassed in front of his friends. I feel like these are the golden years and that I should cherish them.
As Alex gets older, I grieve the previous age. I realize, though, if we didn't move onto the next age that we would miss out on experiencing Alex and what he's like at each age. Sure, we miss how cute he was as a baby and toddler. (Although, I'd happily skip age three which Alex spent in a permanent state of time out.) If we didn't move on from the baby and toddler age, we'd miss out on the fun of the early elementary years. We'll have to say goodbye to Alex at this age to see what he's like in middle school and during the dreaded teen years. We'll have to get through the teen years to see how he turns out as an adult. Until that happens, I'm going to savor these early years. Happy 7th birthday, Alex!
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