One day you will come home after your first day of a new school year and not wish to share a single thing. Not today. Today, you got into the car and talked non-stop about every second of your day. I was delighted!
One day you will not have countless first-day forms for me to sign and return the next day. Not today. I signed my name at least four times. I was happy to grant permission for you to play sports, learn algebra, and do whatever else I gave my permission for.
One day you will not allow me to take those precious first-day pictures.
Not today.
You graciously allowed me to capture the first perfectly pressed outfit, the excited smile, the anxious energy, and the perfectly manicured fresh back-to-school haircut. Thank you. You truly have no idea how much those pictures mean to me. You will. Someday.
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One day you will not share intricate details and snippets of your lunchroom and gym time conversations. Those will be private between you and your buddies. Not today. You enjoy sharing the weird, awkward, often gross details of young boyhood with your old mom. I savor it.
One day you will not come home and eat every single shred of food in my house because you will live on your own. Not today. I am more than happy to recommend after-school snack options, followed by a home-cooked meal, followed by an after-dinner snack, followed by a bedtime treat. You will positively bankrupt me with your appetite. But I could not be more happy to see you healthy, strong, growing, and changing daily from a little boy to a young man before my very eyes.
One day you will not invite me to tuck you in for bed, pray that special nighttime prayer, and ruffle your after-bath little boy touseled hair. Not today.
You still seek comfort from a bedtime routine.
While you are very capable of staying up later than me at this point, you humor me by sharing that special goodnight and end-of-the- day-connection as I lovingly pull the covers up over your growing-at-Mach-speed frame.
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One day you will outgrow the many daily traditions I often take for granted. Not today. With the start of a new year, I know the time is closing in. Every new grade, you grow further toward your destiny as a man and further away from the little boy I once rocked to sleep after story time each night.
Until that one day arrives, I will treasure every minute of today.