On The Day You Turned 6

You woke up before dawn. For three nights you were too excited to sleep. You've been asking about your birthday for so long now it seems like it should have already come and gone.

It's hard to believe that today, my son, you turned 6.

Your momma is having a hard time with this one. I get weepy every time I think about it.

I'm glad you're 6. No really, I am. Six is a great age. It's all play and rough housing.

This growing up thing is what you're meant to do. It's just that no one tells you before you have a baby how this might break your heart. Or maybe they do? Only a mom can truly understand the bittersweet emotions birthdays bring. Maybe other mothers did tell me, but I brushed the comment aside thinking they were too attached or overprotective. You know, all those things I'm not - HA!

If 6 is this hard, what is 10 going to be like? Or 15? Or 18?

Seriously, where does the time go?

Those things I thought I would never forget about your baby years are getting harder to recall, especially now that you are into Legos, video games and silly antics all the time.

There are so many days when I wish I could bottle up half of your energy and use it for myself.

There are days we butt heads.

There are days when you make me smile, others where I can't stop laughing at your silliness, and still others when I think I might pull my hair out.

Those cuddling days are too few and far between. You are too heavy for me to pick up and too big to be held. You even like it when I leave to go to work because that gives you time to play with someone else.

It's all as it's supposed to be.

So why is it so hard to accept you are growing up?

I can't stop that you are getting bigger. I wouldn't want to. Life is meant to be lived, and in my opinion, lived with a spirit of adventure and a love for others.

Live the life God has planned for you. Don't run from it. Don't run from him. Listen to that inner voice that guides you and be the person you are. That's easy when you are 6. It's not so easy at 16.

When you do turn 16, go easy on this mom of yours. I'm going to mess up here and there. I'm going to embarrass you, though I promise it will never be intentional. I'm going to love you then as much as I do today and as much as I did the day you were born - maybe more!

And I hope every birthday is as happy and joyful as this one today!