Blink and you'll miss it

When I was younger, I used to wonder what it would be like to time travel.

The ability to go backwards or forwards through time was such an exciting concept and I had a mental list of all the places I’d want to visit, from the Ancient Pyramids of Egypt—when they weren’t so ancient—to some far off future. As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized all one needs to do to time travel is blink.

It seems like just yesterday my wife, Telitha, and I were dropping our son, Jareth, off for his first day of kindergarten. Today, I watched in my rearview mirror as he walked from my car to his bus at the Snowy Range turnoff even as the wind tried to push him over. It was then it hit me there are only eight weeks left of this school year, only eight weeks left of Jareth being in 2nd grade. Right before my very eyes, my son is growing up faster than I ever thought possible.

I’ve written before about the struggles of working in this industry while also being a parent. I still remember past incidents in which I was told about Jareth getting upset because I was always going to meetings. Even now, he doesn’t seem to be happy when I have to leave the house to go to a meeting or an event. I try, as much as I can, to be home for bedtime and, when I am, he will latch onto my arm and tell me I can’t leave.

One of the things I’ve worried about as he’s grown up is whether he would think my job was more important than him. That worry has often been exacerbated when I find myself trying to recharge over the weekend. Jareth is very energetic. His mind is always looking for the next project, for the next thing to do. Sometimes, it seems impossible to keep up with him. Much like me, when he’s found something he likes he will dive into it without a second thought.

While he’s still interested in dinosaurs, what interests him has expanded to include Pokemon, Minecraft, crafting with clay and pipe cleaners, rock collecting and beyond. Every time I turn around, it seems, something else has piqued his interest and he is bound and determined to dive into it and become the best he can at it.

Take the pipe cleaners, for example. What started out as very simple models with a bit of an abstract look to them have become far more detailed. Working with clay, meanwhile, has become yet another avenue for his creativity. He has come home from my parents’ with his own version of King Ghidorah from the Godzilla series and even a Smokey Bear which he gave to his teacher this year. His interest in LEGOs continues to grow and he has long been at the point where he can put together these models on his own.

There never seems to be a time when I am not impressed by my son or proud of the creative, kind young person he has become. I’m none too ashamed to say that, at times, I find myself nearly in tears thinking about it.