The Kid

How can our precious little cotton-topped angel possibly be old enough to be starting junior high school. Wasn't he pulling up on my pant leg just a few months ago? Wasn't Andy carrying him around the house helping mom take care of him just last week. Didn't he learn to ride his bike just a few days ago. Now his head is even with my shoulders, he knows almost as much about computers as I do, and he's playing the drums in the 6th grade band! What happened? I wasn't through with my little boy yet. I haven't finished throwing him up in the air to see just how big he can grin. I still want to read books to him in bed at night and wake him up by crawling in bed with him and tickling him. I'm not through rocking him in my recliner when he's tired and wants to be held. I want to be the person with whom he'd rather spend all his time. Where's the little boy who said that I was his best friend?

Melissa's cousin Paula is here this weekend with her husband Chris and their new baby girl, Elizabeth Grace. Watching her just reminded me of how big my boys have gotten and how much I miss the days when they were just babies laying on a blanket in the floor or when they were just toddlers crawling around getting into things. I know I can't go back and recapture those days, but I can make the most of the days that are left. If I make a commitment to spend quality time with my sons then maybe I'll feel important to them again. If I listen to them and try to remember what it's like to be their age then maybe I'll feel connected to them again. And if I give him my full attention and do everything I can to make him know how important he is to me, then maybe, just maybe, I'll be his best friend again. I love you, Alex!