Emily at almost 18 and YoYo the Cat at 15

Back in January 1992, I was camped out on the couch, big and pregnant, on bedrest with dangerously high blood pressure and an attractive case of cankles. I worried non-stop for four solid weeks as I waited for that baby to be born – hoping she was ok, hoping I was ok, wondering how we’d pay for the house we’d just bought, and on and on. I was also unbelievably tired of waiting, waiting, waiting and not terribly thrilled with being told to do nothing. Nothing. All. Day. Long.   There I was,  feeling as if time was standing still.

I had no idea just how fast time would move after that.

The time since that boring month in 1992 has been anything but dull. That baby showed up, a day before her due date.  We got her a kitten when she was 2 — we still have that cat (see picture).   She returned to that same hospital where she was born three years later to welcome her new baby sister (she’d asked for a baby sister for Christmas and by golly, I delivered). Her life was turned upside down when she was 5 and her father and I divorced, but she got through it. She walked down the aisle as a flower girl when I got remarried in 1999. Over the next few years, she welcomed another baby sister and a baby brother, and moved to the side amidst the chaos of little kids in the house.

It’s been a busy time since she first showed up. Non-stop busy. While I’m not big on the whole idea of regrets, sitting back now and reflecting on the last 18 years with my first child, I can only say that I had no idea so much time could pass so quickly. I have three more children, ages 14, 8 and 5. If I’ve learned anything from watching my first child get to adulthood, it is this: I want to slow down. I want to stop more, so I can enjoy and savor the moments as they happen.

Because they sure grow up fast…  (but I think that cat might live forever)