How Old Are You?

I am constantly reminded how many days it is until my daughter's 18th birthday. You would think it's my daughter that keeps the number in the forefront of my mind but it's the news. My daughter will be 18 5 days before the next presidential election. Every time I turn the news on I am reminded of how many days until my daughter is a legal adult. Starting now I am vowing to watch little or no news until after her birthday.

It seems like yesterday she was starting school with pigtails in her hair and not a pair of pants to be found in her dresser. She refused to wear pants. Actually, many days she simply preferred to be naked. As I have watched her grow and changed I am amazed that we are already knocking on the door of the eighteenth birthday and her senior year in school.

When she was small I often thought that the parents of middle school/high school kids were old. I'm now that parent. Starting with this school year I no longer have children in elementary school. I will have two at the middle school and two at the high school. I keep thinking I don't feel old. I don't feel much older than my almost 18 year old. Except I have now have children that age and I have gray hair. Not figuratively as in my children have given me gray hair, I really have gray hair. That and the line between my eye brows makes me feel old. I told my husband I would like a round of botox for Christmas this year but he didn't find me funny.



My husband views the changing of the guard so to speak in a completely different manner. He keeps telling me 1 down 3 to go. Meaning 3 more to get through high school and to their 18th birthday. He's excited to see how they fulfill their dreams and goals. I'm excited for that as well just not as excited as he is.

We have never had the opportunity to be married without kids. We have always had a house full of kids. At one point we had 4 children 6 years and younger. I look forward to the day when my husband and I can pick up and venture to a location and not have to hire a logistic team to coordinate schedules. But I can't help be wonder how we arrived at this point in our lives so fast.

I have often said that once my children started school we entered the express lane of life and I am not sure how to exit the express lane. Our oldest daughter will graduate school next year. In two years our second daughter then in three years our oldest son and the year after that our youngest son. If you add it up you will discover that in 7 short years our youngest child will be in the same spot our oldest daughter is right now. I only have 7 years left of a full house of noise, laughter, frustration, mounds of laundry, and the endless mom duties.

I don't know about all the other parents out there but I don't feel old enough to have an almost 18 year old. Maybe I can pass as being her sister? Well, only if I dye the gray hair and get botox for Christmas.