A few days ago, I saw this commercial and immediately said to Irish Dancer Girl, "Your brother (aka Teen Caveboy) would love this game...He's such a Lego freak!" She looked at me like I had just told her aliens had invaded the neighborhood. "Uh, Mom...he doesn't play with toys anymore, remember?" She was edging toward me slowly. "He stopped playing with toys back when I was a little girl." (she's 8 years old...) The truth in her words smacked me in the heart like the Karate Kid hitting me with a five finger death punch. Tears welled up in my eyes. I was a blubbering fool in all of 30 seconds. Irish Dancer Girl threw her arms around me and said, "It's ok, Mommy. I still have lots of toys for you to play with." I hugged her tightly and then went to distract myself from my breakdown with the laundry.
Later that day, I went into Teen Caveboy's room to put away some clean clothing. I looked around and realized his life is now all about "The Four G's"...Guitars, Grub, Games (video) and ahem...Girls. I looked at the guitar picks and sheet music scattered on the floor, the XBox games strewn about and realized my wee baby boy is growing up. Not a toy in sight...sigh....I leaned against the wall and tried not to cry again. Time really does fly by in the blink of an eye. It seems like just moments ago that I was cleaning up Legos and stepping on Hot Wheels in his room. Wasn't it just yesterday that he was playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero....not playing a "real" electric guitar like the talented musician he's become, for goodness sakes? And is he really going to be old enough to drive a car next summer???
Heavy sigh...I hung up the clothes in his closet and turned to leave. But wait! What do I spy with my wandering eyes up high??? Let me show you....
Toys! I found toys! Sure, they're scary glow in the dark zombies attacking some plastic army guys, and of course, they're purely for room decoration, but they're still TOYS! My heart was filled with joy! There is still some of the "boy" in my amazing young man. So while I'm not a fan of this G word term...Growing Up...I'm Grateful that I still have a bit of my wee baby boy hiding out in plain sight in Teen Caveboy's room.
We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.
- George Bernard Shaw
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Comments
waaaahhhhhhhh
Then, I overheard my Boy and Girl discussing future plans (he's in missions work, she's in the aviation program at college) and realized they were talking about both of them living in a different country.
Whoa! I told them that one of them has to live within driving distance of the mommy! They looked at me like I had grown a third eye.
Waaaahhhaaaaa
Rotten kids anyway. Who do they think they are growing up and having a life! Geez!
i don't have any kiddos yet, but i CANNOT beleive my first neice is 7 this fall...!
TIME FLYING IS SOOOO SCARY!!
Not that a 14 year old should have her bedroom covered in Barbies and Bratz, but still, it makes me feel like she's going to be moving out and forgetting all about me any day now.
*sniffle*
In fact, right at this moment, my husband is in the living room, playing (or supposedly 'designing our future home') with lincoln logs!
I'm liking the army guys versus zombies setup he's got going on there, btw - hehe.
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You crossed my mind today. I just wanted to see how you are doing.
Caitlin