Fast Times and Kid Times

I know I keep hearing this and I know I keep saying this, but BOY it feels like the kids are growing up way too fast. I don't mean necessarily in the "bad" sense where youngsters are exposed to a whole lot more these days than I was as a kid; I'm just talking about the fact that they're aging and maturing right before my eyes.

Where does the time go?

I try to get a ton of daddy time in with the kids ... but it's just flying by.

The oldest has graduated high school and will be off to college in the fall. The second oldest is taking on a lot more responsibility than a year ago, and he can outrun me in a dead sprint. He is finishing his soph year and knows what he wants to study and where he wants to go to college. The third is finishing 7th grade and she knows what she wants to do. And the fourth is finishing 4th grade and even he knows what he wants to do.

The kids have all become great helpers, more proactive in seeking out stuff that needs to be done, more caring and sensitive to the needs of others, and more delightful every day.

I loved the "little" years when I could carry kids around in backpacks, take them in the jogging stroller, play our favorite homemade chase game ("No Monkies"), and stuff like that.

But I tell you, I'm thoroughly enjoying the "growing up" years where we can talk about real things. My kids talk to me and ask me questions about anything, and I love it.

Father's Day is coming up sometime later this month. I've already gotten what I want, and that's a relationship with each kid where he or she trusts me, loves me, and isn't hesitant to be seen with me in public.

(My oldest son did ask me to promise to never wear a tutu again in public ... even though he wasn't at last year's Pops Concert at church, he's heard about it enough that he knows he doesn't want to see it :-).

I love weekends. I LOVE weekends, because that's when I can get the best quality family time. That means more than just about anything. Heck, it means more than Nebraska football (shhh, don't tell anybody I said that).