growing up

as a child i always heard my parents and other adults talk about how fast time flies. and how kids grow up so fast that it seems like you blink and one day they are teenagers. i always thought that they were a little bit crazy. but now i totally see what they were talking about. yesterday was brendan's 5th grade continuation. i can't believe it's time for middle school! and as i sat in the crowd yesterday and looked at his class i traveled back in time and remembered with such clarity their faces as little kindergartners. a majority of his class is kids that we have known since the very begining of school. i couldn't believe how much they have all grown and how mature they are starting to look. to be honest it was a little bit scary. the first 6 years went so fast. are the next 6 years going to go as fast or faster?? before i know it we will be attending a real graduation. i can't even begin to wrap my brain around that one. watching your kids mature is such a bizarre yet fascinating part of life. i find myself unsure about certain parts of parenting at this age. and i feel bad because i think that poor brendan is kind of our parenting guinea pig. let's try this and hope it's the right thing. if not we'll do better on the next one. crazy, crazy stuff.

brendan loved his teacher this year. she taught the kids a couple of subjects last year so a good relationship was already established. the ceremony itself was orchestrated well. they sang about 4 songs, one of which was "the wind beneath my wings". the song had barely started when i looked up to see brendan getting teary. he was looking right at me and the tears just started to flow. which of course caused me to get all weepy as well. then, as if it wasn't bad enough, they had the kids bring roses down to one of their parents. that turned the tear level up a notch or two. so basically brendan and i shared tears though the entire song. even now, thinking about it the tears are starting. he is such a special and sweet kid. i know that i am his mother so i'm biased but he really and truly is one of a kind.

at the end of the ceremony larry was going to take a picture of just me and the kids and then this really sweet lady that we didn't know offered to take a picture of us. i didn't realize until we got home that brendan's eye's were closed but that's ok. i'm grateful to her for being kind enough to lend a photography hand.