By Ammie Bryant

I am constantly amazed by how quickly time passes the older I get; because here we are, already into the third month of 2019 with less than three months left in the school year!

I know part of what makes me perceive the passage of time so acutely is that my children are getting older. It seems like, the older they get, the more their schedules keep us running back and forth to all kinds of appointments, activities, and events year-round. Sometimes it seems like the only time I see them is when I’m providing taxi service or at the occasional meal when we are all present to dine together. And then they reach driving age and can drive themselves and we see them even less.

I suppose these ruminations are circling around my brain today because our middle child passes that major milestone this month when she turns sixteen. This is the child that I spend the most time chauffeuring around because she is also the child who has always had to “DO ALL THE THINGS!”  So after this month that will leave me with only one child left to usher towards that all important milestone of independence. Also, have I mentioned lately that our oldest will be a senior in high school next year?!

Don’t mind me, I’m just over here having a mild, impending empty-nester crisis. Tell me why again I thought it was a such a great idea to have all of our children so close together?