Each haircut, each set of outgrown clothes, each round of spring cleaning, each start of a new sports season is marking a passage of time. It’s moving us closer to that thing we dread: our kids growing up, our kids leaving, our final parting.
But the point of this message is not to depress you. It’s not intended to take the joy out of the season. On the contrary, it’s to help you enjoy it now, while it’s here. It’s to remind you of how important it is . . . and what a wonderful opportunity it presents.
As Philip Larkin writes in his beautiful poem “The Trees,” about the annual message the earth gives each spring: Last year is dead, they seem to say, Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.
The past is past. The last year is gone forever. The length of the future remains, as ever, uncertain. But now is now. The new season is here. Let us put our mistakes behind us. Let us work against distraction, addiction, and busyness. Let us rededicate ourselves to the reason we are here—to parenting, our most important job. Let us begin afresh, afresh, afresh.
Let’s enjoy this season with all it presents. Because when this year dies, so do we a little, so does one of only so many seasons we have with our kids.
Tempus fugit.