Growing pains

Our son will cross the six-week mark this week. He has stopped fitting into his "old" clothes. About half of them were purchased by us; the other half were hand-me-downs. So we got out the new batch of bigger clothes. Some fit him well; he is swimming in others.

It is an emotional time. It feels like a part of his childhood has passed us by. Never to come back again. But we were not done with it. It's a feeling of loss. A very specific type of loss. You know, with certainty, that something good and wonderful is never coming back into your life. Never again. And it is painful to accept that.

Parenting celebrates the firsts. We should also grieve the lasts.