It only lasts five minutes....

As I was riding in the car with my sister in law, Lori, and we were discussing the ups of downs of an infant again, she shared with me something that her Aunt told her, "it only lasts 5 minutes". That really sat with me and I have thought about it all morning. How so very true that is. I think back to when my Spencer was a newborn and would keep me up all night and all day, how scared and tired and crazy and depressed I was, but it only lasted five minutes, or so it seems. Before I knew it, we were celebrating his first birthday out by the pool at the apartment we lived in at the time, and even then I wished for him to be bigger, to be able to play more independently, to be able to fully feed himself a meal, to be able to TELL me what was wrong, and before I knew it that 5 minutes passed and he was turning two, and was able to do all of those things and yet I always looked ahead, never enjoying those precious minutes as they passed right by me. Along came the third, fourth, fifth birthday, and not once did I stop to think how fast it was all passing me by.

My Spencer is going to turn 10 in a few months. He is a good boy, smart, sensitive and caring, but can be sassy with that mouth of his. I will, from here on out, remind myself that this 5 minutes will pass and he will be graduating from high school......getting married.....having his own children, God willing. And when he calls to tell me how his baby is keeping he and his wife up all night, how his little child is going through the terrible two's, how his sweet angel stayed out past curfew, I will most likely laugh and say something along the lines of "Glad I am done with that phase in my life". But I know in my heart I will be thinking and longing to get those minutes back. Those precious minutes that fly by before you even realize it.