Don't Blink

This morning I walked into my laundry room, still shuffling and blurry eyed from last night's sleep. Draped over my stainless steel sink was Emilie's sundress, with laundry instructions intended for me. What happened to my baby? When did she learn what "cold wash" means and why does she care? I thought that my job was still to shout from the kitchen window to get out of the mud but somewhere along the way my job has changed. Through contacted eyes and braced teeth, my eleven year old daughter asks if I have made her annual doctor's appointment. She did just have her birthday she adds. Is her semi-annual dentist appointment coming up and have I sent in her junior high recommendations, she inquires. A word of caution to prospective mothers, first timers, aunts, uncles and most importantly to myself on the eve of the birth of my last addition to this fast paced world: Don't blink. In just a moment our babies grow tall and become our friends, just what we have always hoped for, but with no chance of ever turning back.