Friday, September 10, 2010

Warp Speed

There are times as a parent that a milestone arrives and there is an overwhelming sense that somebody must have flipped the switch to "Warp Speed". I don't remember giving the order to speed recklessly through my children's lives, yet I found myself crashing into a kindergarten room with my oldest a few weeks ago. How can this be? I can still close my eyes and feel like I'm getting off the plane from Iraq to see her birth.

I wrote about it a post awhile back, so I hate to keep bringing it up, but having kids makes you more aware than you've ever been of the passage of time. Without kids, I wouldn't give a second thought to how quickly the last five years have passed, but now that I have kids, I can see it passing before my eyes. I look at pictures from a year ago, and while I still look just as stunning as I did 365 days ago, my kids look like they've aged ten years (in a good way). As I type this post, I'm looking at a family picture taken last fall. The two kids I had at the time seem so young compared to the two I dropped off this morning before coming to work.

At this time last year, my wife and I were hoping to get pregnant again, but now we have a two-month old that smiles and coos. In the picture on my desk, one can barely tell that my sister-in-law is pregnant, but my niece was crawling around like a pro when I dropped my boys off for daycare this morning.

I'm loving every second of this adventure, but I at the same time, I'm bracing myself for the morning that I wake up to the sound of my daughter getting ready for her wedding day or my sons packing up to head to college. I think of the movie Click starring Adam Sandler, and realize that while his remote started auto-fast-forwarding because he was using it so much, mine would probably get stuck in pause mode. I would want to pause on every smile, hug, and "I love you, Daddy," but life doesn't work that way, so I'll just have to do my best to live in the moment every moment I get.

30 comments:

  1. Well put Nate, and even though I'm nowhere close to being a dad, every time I go home it seems like my little ones have grown up faster than I can keep up with them. They are my little reminder that, even though nothing really changes back home, time refuses to wait for me to be ready. I look forward to reading more of these "adventures".

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  2. I am working on getting you published. I may be biased but HOT DAMN you are a good writer, scratch that, GREAT writer! I love reading these! The kids will love having them in the future as well. Love you!

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  3. You are definately biased, but I'll take what I can get.

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  4. Wilson over the FenceSeptember 14, 2010 at 3:20 PM

    I think she is a wise woman. She married you didn't she? Nate, your command of the English language is a joy to experience. Having such endearing subjects makes it even better! Keep up the good work, I really enjoy reading these!!

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  5. You hit it on the head Nathan! I remember when I was changing the diapers for my kids, then their kids and now their kids kids! This should make everyone appreciate every day. You make your Grandma proud!

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  6. Thanks, Wilson and Grandma. I really enjoy writing these, so it is nice to hear that people like them, even if they are my friends, family, and students that are looking for extra credit.

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  7. I can see how you feel. I have a niece and a nephew. My niece was born before I was in fifth grade and she is in kindergarden now. I feel like she should still be a baby. My nephew is turning 3 on Saturday and I can't believe it. I remember the day he was born because I had a basketball game in Champaign. We lost but I got my nephew so it was all good.
    Jasmine Bennett

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  8. Mr. Ogle, I read this post and it made me realize that I need to really capture the things in life that I want to keep in my head as memories. But also not to forget the ones that I do not want to stick in my head, because one day I will want to look back on those.

    Kel-c Fuqua

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  9. I remember when my cousins were babies. I hadn't seen them in a couple years, and wow, they looked so different. I mean my cousin was seven and at nine she looked so different.
    Makenzie Tegeler M.N.T

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  10. I read this, and i realized that each year my life is going to go by a little faster. Before i know it, i could be feeling this way. Now i can relate when people say "life is short", and it makes me want to cherish every moment of it.

    -- Madelinee Wilson!

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  11. My mom always talks about how ive grown up so fast and that to her i should still be in elementary school. I understand after reading your blog that time really does go by fast for everyone. I mean i feel like i should still be going through my freshman year, but here i am as a sophomore. It really makes me want to enjoy every moment in my life.

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  12. I really think that your right about this topic. Babies seem to grow up faster then you think. I remember when my cousin Courtney was born and how little she was. Then it seemed like a blink of an eye she was two and had a new baby brother named Justin. My grandma goes to visit them in them in Texas then she will send me pictures of them, and I can't believe how grown up they are. They look so different. When I read your blogs, it makes me think that even though I think I don't wanna have kids right now, I will change my mind once I'm older. I'm sure I will have at least one, but I'm curious to see how many I will have because sometimes I feel like I don't want any at all. But I see all the joy they really are overall, so then I start to think, I most likely will have kids, I just don't think so now.
    -Rachel Roark

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  13. Mr. Ogle I think that I will never want children because they are whinny and all they do is cry. And when they get to be a teenager then they will get worse, just because that is how I am, And teenagers just do not care. I wish I knew why i felt like this but I don't. Maybe some day I will. And another reason why I don't wamt kids is because they cry really loud then whenever you are people stare at you and yeah I don't want people looking at me all the time.

    -Kayla Stickler.

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  14. As a new mother I feel like I'm missing out on my daughter's life already. With school and work it just makes me sad. I guess thats what you get when you become a teenage mom. I just hope I'm there when she starts talking and walking.

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  15. i think about this all the time i rember last winter and spring say ah yeah i cant wait until football starts just 9 6 months and well be able to play again and now theres two games left and i feel like time has abbsolutlwy flyaed they do say that your hihg school years go by the fastest and man im already starting to miss them and im only in my second year of high school.
    Cameron Malone

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  16. I recently just got my driver's lisence. When the guy behind the desk handed me this shiny card, it didn't feel right. I love having my lisence, but I still feel like I should be riding a tricycle. This summer I hated getting up for football every morning. Tomorrow is the last home game of my sophomore career. All there is left to do is embrace your past and move forward. Just make sure when you look back and reminisce that you are proud of where you've been and the things you have accomplished. It's never too late for anything though.
    -Logan McDaniel

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  17. As everyone else has said, I agree on this subject. I can still remember the moment I broke my thumb in my last softball game at Mayo like it was yesterday and look back and ask myself where time goes. The faces of everyone around me, my Mom's face when I was put under for surgery and the doctor saying "Count to 100" and me only being able to get to 4 are still very vivid in my memory. Also, when I look back at pictures of my brother and I when we were younger, it makes me realize how fast time goes by. It definently does not seam like my brother should be in middle school and I will be graduating in 2.5 years!
    - Aleah Smith

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  18. I completely agree. It seems like yesterday i was running around at my baby sitters without a care in the world. Now; i am constantly busy between writing your essays (haha) and sports. That is a span of 10 years, and it all went by so fast.
    -Chandler Milbourn 1st Hour

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  19. I completely understand. This year when it was my mayfete, it really hit me how much I have grown. I couldn't believe, that my whole 4 years that I dreaded and fret the most were over. My dance with my dad was very sad, but it was nice to know he has always been there for me, to most of all support me.

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  20. When I got to highschool I got to see my cousins, Christian and Jasper, less and less. I would do anything for those children and when I saw them for the first time in eight months I wanted to put time on rewind, back to the day when I was their hero.
    When my aunt told me Jasper was being bullied at his school it brok my heart. He was My cousin I was supposed to protect HIM. But the distance and the time consumption was making it harder and harder. So i tried my hardest to show him that I would do anything for him. I set up and interview for him at a private school, but he had to test into it. He didn't want to do it because at that age spending two whole hours taking a test is unheard of.
    So we came to a compromise, if I would take him out for ethiopian food he would take the test. I ate mush on a pancake that cost me eighty dollars then drove him to the school. He tested in with a 95% score on a highschool level test, it wouldn't seem so impressive if he wasn't 11, but the essay portion is what got me. When my aunt recieved a copy of the test she sent me the essay.
    Jasper was told to write two pages on his hero, and when I read those two pages about me I broke down. I have never been so happy than the moment I found out that no matter how old he gets and how smart he is. I am Jasper's hero.
    Today he is thirteen. He is in trigonomotry (I can't even spell it), he tutors his father's highschool students, speaks fluent spanish, and has more friends than he can count on his fingers and toes.

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  21. that movie click is such a sad movie ive never cried over a movie and i never will, but that about made me cry or the movie marley and me that was sad

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  22. This is so amazing that everyone thinks that time goes by so quickly and that will almost all agree on this topic. It seems like yesterday, I was so excited I got into the advanced class in fourth grade. It seems like a blink of an eye, when I was in sixth grade and was so worried about my grades and everything and was exposed to the middle school world. Now, I find it hard to believe that I am a 14-year old sitting in high school classes with lots of different friends and being in so many different activities and being exposed to so many different things and actually starting to prepare for the future. This post made me realize that it's not just me that thinks time goes by so fast!
    -Faith Fox, 7th Hour

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  23. Mr. Ogle, I enjoyed reading your blog. This does make me realize I should appreciate things in my life because in that moment of time, I'll never get it back. I do believe that life is too short because my high school years have flown by so fast. I now have a different outlook on life. Thanks :)
    -Mariah

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  24. I agree with this topic a lot. We all think that what we have now is going to last forever. One day though we'll wake up and realize what we had is now gone. I think we all need to slow down and appreciate the things we have and live life to the absolute fullest.

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  25. I really like this post. I believe that we do need to slow down and appreciate all of the things that we have right in front of us. I think that we need to appreciate the times and things that we may not have in the future. I want to slow down with life and enjoy the ride.

    Marissa Langworthy - Creative Writing and Composition (2nd & 3rd hour)

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  26. This is a great post! Life is going by really fast. I learned that the hard way. I never really appreciated life until I realized that graduation is right around the corner. I want to slow things down and appreciate all of the things that I have in front of me. Life goes by too fast.
    Maddie Johnson 2nd hour

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  27. Reading this has given a new perspective on how I view my life. I live in the moment everyday not thinking of the situations to come. I remember walking in to the high school for the first time. Now as sit here and type this i cannot stop annoying myself with thought of in four days i will be done with high school forever (hopefully). Doing this has made think of times where i should have slowed down and enjoyed sitting in class with my friends because its time to stop messing around and begin our journey that is adulthood, and i believe reading this influenced me to enjoy everyday im alive and everyday i see my family and friends faces because that view will be gone and i will enter another chapter that no one knows anything about. Lane Tessman 2nd Hour

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  28. Ah, well, I am not a father and do not intend to be for sometime(never if I had my way, but who knows). I, myself, would prefer to see the kids grow, not pause it. To have them become something in life and get the feeling that you lead them there. Of course, you’re a teacher, you should get this feeling often. So pausing a few children, especially your own is understandable.
    If you don’t agree, don’t worry. I often think of myself as heartless due to wanting to push things along, too. I guess, I am just more into living in the future than I am the past or present. Who knows.

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  29. Things go by so much faster than you'd expect them to. My sister is going to graduate from college soon and then she'll be on her own. It's so weird to think that she's already grown up. Before I know it Stew will be gone and I will be in college as well. Life is exactly like the movie "Click", and I really wish I had a remote too.

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  30. I am only 17 and i'm starting to see this as well. 4 and a half years ago my sister got married and now i have a 1 year old nephew running around my grandparents house. only 3 years ago i was a freshman and my brother a senior, now i'm the oldest class at the high school and he lives in colorado with my dad with a welding degree and a job. it amazes me how this is all flying by and i'll be in the same position as you. it scares me sometimes on how time is moving at warp speed.

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