6,837,333 Minutes

6, 837, 333 minutes. How could so many minutes pass by so quickly? 6,837,333 minutes = 13 years. And that's how old my daughter, Brynn, is today. Whether you count the years... the days, all 4,748 of them...or the minutes, 6,837,333 and counting -- time still passed too quickly. Much too fast for this mom feeling like I just blinked my baby girl into a teenager. All those minutes and most of them slipped through my fingers like grains of sand. Where did all those minutes I spent diapering, and breastfeeding, and bathing her go? All those minutes spent singing & reading to her, playing with her, chasing after her as she wobbled like a weeble on shaky toddler legs...those minutes are distant memories. And then there are the minutes sending her off to kindergarten & beyond, helping with homework, attending soccer games & gymnastics meets & dance recitals...minutes, too many of which, that have come and gone. So many minutes watching Brynn grow and learn seem so lost to me now; and yet, there are still minutes & memories I can string together like pearls. Minutes that make up the day she was born, her first steps{which happened at KinderCare}, laughing & crying as she performed the chicken dance{and stole the show} during a Christmas program, the time I accidently shut a door on her little fingers{oh my, my heart still hurts over that one}, listening to her belt out Reba songs in the car, her first crush, her first dance, all those cheer routines...so many treasured moments. And still many more to come. Now, my Brynn is 13. But there are still quite a few years left before she leaves the nest. Maybe 8, or 9, or ten more. That's another 4,733,538 minutes, give or take a few thousand. Maybe I'll manage to slow down time a little more. For now, let me take a minute to tell my beautiful, brilliant daughter: "Happy Birthday, Brynn!" Live and enjoy every minute of being a thirteen-year-old. We love you more!


P.S. And a very Happy Birthday to my Aunt Nancy:)