What is springtime for you?
I never thought I really missed springtime that much. Until it was there.
For me, springtime has a lot of meanings. It means lots of house work – spring cleaning, gardening, washing the curtains, to name a few. It means spending lots of time outdoors – more frequent jogging runs, walking, hiking and cycling.
Bur most of all, it’s the time of the year when I realized how much my children have grown.
- When I put away the winter clothes and take out the summer clothes, I could see how much I have to throw or give away and how I have to buy.
- As I checked my boys’ summer shoes the other day, I realized that their feet have gone two sizes up; that I have to check ebay and second hand shops for bargains to avoid going bankrupt.
- As we took out the bicycles for maintenance last weekend, we had to put up the saddles to accommodate the new centimeters gained during winter months. This is also another indication that we might have to invest in bigger bicycles in a year’s time. The helmets are definitely too small for this year.
I see my children everyday and this frequency keeps me from noticing the small gradual changes of the previous months. But looking how much shorter those trousers have become or how that favorite shirt only reaches down to the navel, then I realize how much has changed. It’s not only in the centimeters or kilos gained. It’s how they talk and walk; how they beg on trying out those roller blades with the protective gear (no way, Jose, says mommy). It’s how they can outrun and outswim me now. It’s how they insist “I can do that myself!”
For me, springtime is the time to reflect on the changes that have occurred and the changes that are to come. It is the time to realize that time, indeed, has wings, and how short childhood can be.
So what is springtime for you?
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