Speed of Life

In the next two weeks, all sorts of new things will happen.  Son #1, Scott, and his wife, Jennie, are expecting a baby girl.  Carter will become a big brother!  Son #2, Ben is settling on his first house, and the playground will be rebuilt by hundreds of community volunteers, after being destroyed by arson nearly three years ago.  Our daughter, Kristin, will come home from college for the weekend, hoping to be able to see her new niece on her way through our house to a concert in Shippensburg with friends.  I will start classes at Drexel, and host another Twitter Chat.  (Shameless plug - Tuesday at 7 pm, EDT!  #reflectiveteacher).

All of this independence on the part of my children leaves me to conclude something that I don't really like to admit;  somehow, I am now an adult.  Even worse, I appear to be the MOTHER of three adults.  I'm not really sure how, or when, this happened, but this four day weekend has given me time to slow down and contemplate, and all this contemplation has lead to one really big conclusion.

I need to go back to work, where the speed of life is nearing the speed of light.  Tomorrow I will return to my classroom, where despite precise lesson plans all shiny and ready to be taught, it will be the unexpected that will be what fills the hours between 7:30 and 3. 

For it is there that, despite the speed of life, my age seems to slow down, as my world is filled with teenagers instead of adults, who offer the perspective of youth, and the ability to escape to home in the evening, where I can be thankful once again!