If there were just one thing I would like to say to parents of young children it would be don't miss chances to enjoy your time with your kids when they are young. Other  things can wait, children won't. They are tiny little people one day and before you know it they are adults with lives of their own and  if you haven't made time to share in their childhood you will have lost an opportunity to really know your child.

 This was brought home to me recently as I was shopping in our local mall. I was sitting on a bench to rest for a bit when a young mother and her two small children walked by. The tiniest one, a little boy about three years old was pulling at his mother and asking that she pick him up. I guess his wee legs were tired and keeping up with mommy was more than he could manage at that moment. She showed her annoyance as she pushed his hand away and said angrily ..."stop hanging on to me ! " The hurt on the little one's face  struck a chord in me  and I wanted so much to say to her.. 'please don't do that ! Someday you will wish so much you had this opportunity again and it will be too late.'

 So often I think of my son as a little boy and how his hugs were so very precious to me or how just sitting holding him on my knee  reading to him from his favourite story book , or listening to his latest exciting secret, could at that moment  make everything in my world right, particularly when he would look up at me and say " Mommy .. I love you ... lots  and lots of much !" I would give anything to be able to relive those days even briefly.

The years before they first leave the nest are golden. Once they reach school age their world broadens and the first hint that Mommy and Daddy are not the centre of their universe after all causes more than a few pangs, but still you know there will be times when your arms will still be their refuge so you don't  really feel a loss. But it is a loss nevertheless because never again will the closeness be as significant.

I was not always so wise I admit. I still recall one particular day being very upset about the house not staying tidy after I had spent all day cleaning  and my son arrived home from school, after visiting every single puddle he could find on his way home and neglected to take off his muddy shoes before running across my freshly scrubbed floor. I remember as if it were yesterday how I scolded him and still recall the look on his face as he said with his lower lip quivering "I'm sorry Mommy, I only wanted to tell you about the gold star I got today !" I think I wanted to crawl under the table and hide. A gold star ! That was more important than a silly old floor any darn time ! I hugged him and told him how proud of him I was but the scolding had taken the lustre off his wonderful news and I knew it.

There were other lapses on my part I know but  always my little guy made allowances for his Mom's failures. We still shared  special moments and as I grew up along with my boy my understanding of  what was really important did begin to improve. The special times such as the night each year that the christmas tree was put up and the lights turned on for the first time was always our time. How he loved to sit in the dark and watch the star twinkle on the top of the tree. The same star his children now see on their tree, although admittedly a little worse for wear, still a cherished token of his childhood. The christmas cookies were always baked that evening as well and  the young man of the house always took great pleasure in sampling one of each batch as soon as they were out of the oven.  That tradition lasted  longer than my son might wish me to disclose now that he is a man.  As he grew up I used to tease him and threaten to tell his girl friend why he was late picking her up to bring her to visit  but he always knew his Mom would never do that so the teasing was all part of the fun of that evening between the two of us.

 All those times we drove through a snow storm on treacherous roads to get to his hockey games were at times quite  a drag but he did so look forward to them that I never did have the heart to say 'not tonight Son , the roads are too bad.' Recently he mentioned those nights to me and asked "Mom how the heck did you do that ? And why ? I know how much you hate driving in snow !" Of course the question was rhetorical  and didn't really require a response as he already knew my answer would be,  ' because I loved you more than I feared the snow Son.'

 Now when I think back on those years I cherish  all those precious moments but there should have been more of them. Too often I was busy when I should have been storing up more memories for the day  when he would be grown and  raising a family of his own. The love remains but the time is past when Mommy  was his confidante and best friend. Oh, we are still very special friends, but he now has a family who take precedence and that is exactly as it should be and I wouldn't have it any other way. We had our time and it was perhaps the best time of my life.  I know he remembers those days, I see it in the way he is with his children and that lets me know  that I did a lot of things right but it doesn't stop my wishing  at times that I could turn back the clock and  do even better.

 I suppose what I am attempting to say is ... cherish every single moment of the time with your children. They are only children for such a short time and  you don't want to think back when it's too late and regret you were so busy that you missed their childhood.