PAPA DON’T PREACH: 6,047 DAYS

Momma and I differ widely on our hopes for the little one’s growth rate. Like most mom’s, she celebrates each milestone happily, but also with a frown followed by “She’s growing up so fast.” I, on the other hand, would sometimes like to accelerate her growth rate and fast forward to four or five years old – to an age of baseball games, camping trips, no diapers and movies that aren’t animated.

Don’t get me wrong, momma’s looking forward to those days, too. She’s just not in as much of a hurry to get there as I am.

(SIDENOTE: We’re watching Disney Junior right now. Katie Holmes is narrating a Winnie the Pooh short story, which airs after just about every episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The first line always makes me chuckle: “Wherever I am, there’s always Pooh.” Life sure seems like that sometimes.)

I know what everyone says. “They grow up so fast,” more experienced parents tell me. “Cherish these days,” they also say. “She’ll be 18 and headed off to college before you know it,” they warn. I don’t believe it, but then I did the math: 6,047.

That’s how many days we have until Eva turns 18 and, since she was born on August 25th, it’s probably also the day she’ll head off to college. That seems like a long time, but it’s really not. It’s hard to believe she’s already one-and-a-half years old. Soon, the days of the calendar will start flying by like a movie montage about a guy who’s training for something really important with the help of a wise but stern old man.

In a month-and-a-half our countdown will enter the five thousands! Sure, it’ll be another three years or so until we get to the four thousands, but still. Maybe those more experienced parents were right. Maybe she really will be 18 and headed off to college before I know it. And then she’ll be out the real world, all by herself. Out there with all that Pooh.