"Barely" Parenting

My daughters coined their own term recently… the “barely“. It was born out of video games on the iPad when one kid would get a turn to play but would get “out” almost immediately. They’d shout, “Hey, that was a “barely”, as in, they barely got a turn at all. Saying it’s a “barely” is grounds for a do-over.

The “barely” means it went by in a flash, with little time at all, and it’s no fair, sometimes said in the whiniest, saddest little voice.

The more I’ve thought about the term they coined, the more I’ve realized that “the barely” is a perfect analogy for our time raising kids. From the time they first cry out in the delivery room the clock is ticking with milestone after milestone after milestone. They barely settle in to just one aspect of childhood before they’re on to the next one. They’re barely crawling when they’re already taking their first steps. They’re barely speaking when they start to utter their first sentences. They’re barely through kindergarten when it seems like elementary school has already flown by in a flash.

So here I am. Dad. I’m standing here before you and I am humbly declaring my own barely. It’s all going by too fast. It’s no fair, and yes I am saying that in the whiniest, saddest voice possible. We barely got to watch little glimpses of your growing up and sometimes it feels it’s slipping by too quick. So I made my own list of barelys for you:

• The kids barely ask me to sing them to sleep anymore, so when they do, I will cherish it.

• The kids barely need my help tying shoes anymore, so when they do, I will jump to it.

• The kids barely want to hold hands in public anymore, so when they do, I will clutch that hand tight hoping they can feel the love from the palm of my hand to theirs.

• The kids barely need the comfort of mom and dad’s bed at night anymore, so when they run and jump in, I will embrace it and share the covers, and snuggle tight.

• The kids are barely little kids at all anymore, I’ll never forget our time with them as little kids.

Too bad there’s no do-overs.

Their next chapter is already beginning.

What are your barelys?

Pete Wilgoren is an Emmy award winning journalist who writes about his often surprising, embarrassing, and educational experiences surrounded by a wife and two little girls. Find Dadmissions on Facebook and on his blog Dadmissions.