Appreciating the Now

Registration for 7th grade was yesterday. Even though I knew it would take less than an hour to get Nick registered I decided to take the day off work and accomplish several small things that were kinda time consuming.

We both got hair cuts (more about that in another post). We went to the school where he will spend the next 6 years blossoming into a responsible adult (God willing). He was blindsided by an immunization that he needed before starting school but he didn't even flinch when the nurse plunged the needle into his tender arm. We shared lunch at McDonalds, classy huh? We enjoyed each others company. When did my little boy become a 13 year old young man?

Nick is not an avid reader. Something that is hard for me to grasp or understand since I LOVE books. But he will have required reading this year and I took him to the book store to buy a couple of the titles so that he could get a head start on his books. We sat on the floor in front of the Sunshine State Readers section and read the backs of some of the books. Maybe this year he'll fall in love with reading too. If not, I'll read them first to help him with the comprehension and let him read them out loud to me.

I took him to his long overdue dentist appointment and then to our family doctor for a physical.  The doctor asked him about symptoms of puberty (as if it is a disease). In his embarrassment he *may* have shed a tear and I wanted to scoop him up and whisper its going to be okay. But puberty is hard and I knew this wouldn't be the last time his emotions got the best of him.

We went to the mall and spent more money than we should have on shirts with logos. If it makes "fitting in" easier for him with American Eagle shirts and insanely expensive flip flops then it's money well spent.

Thinking back on the day we spent together makes me a little melancholy. I'm not sure I appreciated every minute we spent together while we were doing it. I only have 6 short years til he won't need me to take him to the doctor, or whisper that everything will be all right or make sure that he  understands a book that he's reading. I'm going to try harder tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and EVERY day after until there is a time that I ALWAYS do it automatically.