Today as I was driving home the babysitter, we got to chatting about things like siblings, school and seminary, friends, the things she enjoys, etc. Normal things that I completely relate to because I remember being that age, as though it were just yesterday. I realize by saying that, I am officially old. But my thinking wandered and this is basically how it went:
"Wow, I can't believe that in a few years she'll be off getting married and starting her own little family. (Don't we ALL do this at wedding receptions and reunions, we always make a big fuss over who's grown up so big, etc.)
"In a few more years beyond that, she'll come back to visit her parents and she'll see Jane again and remark how crazy fast she's grown and that she can't believe that's the same little baby girl she used to babysit.
"And a few more years beyond that, she may be asking MY kid to babysit HER kid.
"Then give it a few more years and MY kid will be getting married and starting her own little family and will come back to visit me (by now Grandma) and remark how crazy it is that the kid she used to babysit is all grown up into a big kid."
And so on and so forth. You get the drift. Now I know we usually look at aging as a generational type thing. At least I do. Like... one day I'll have kids and then I'm old. After that, one day I'll be a grandma and then I'm old. After that, great grandchildren. You know, 20 year chunks of time. The babysitter analogy just seems to break up time for me in a way that makes me realize that I am aging, and aging fast. I mean, really, kids grow up so fast and we always say this, but we are aging just as quickly, so it's easier to see how fast when we compare it to something in our kids' lives, like babysitting. So to illustrate this, I've set up a little timeline below, although not all steps come for everyone in the same order. But you get the idea. Where do YOU fall on the 'Babysitter' timeline?
1. You have a babysitter.
2. You babysit for others.
3. Your old babysitter has grown up and had a child.
4. Your old babysitter hires a babysitter.
5. The kids you used to babysit are babysitting for others.
6. You grow up and have a child.
7. Your kids have a babysitter.
8. The kids you used to babysit grow up and have children.
9. The kids of the kids you used to babysit have a babysitter.
10. Your old babysitter's kids are babysitting for others.
11. Your kids are babysitting for others.
12. Their old babysitter is grown up with a child.
13. Their old babysitter hires a babysitter.
14. The kids your kids used to babysit are now babysitting for others.
15. Your kids grow up and have a child.
16. Your kids' kids have a babysitter.
17. The kids that your kids used to babysit grow up and have children.
18. The kids that your kids used to babysit hire babysitters.
19. Your kids' kids babysit for others.
20. Etc.
(Eventually you will repeat step 2 for your aging parents, and finally step 1, your kids for you. Ah the great circle of life!).
I think it is safe to conclude that if you have grandchildren that are babysitting age, then you are getting old enough that you don't want to count any higher. So I'll be kind here and end it. But see the point? I can promise you it boggled my mind to write that list, and that the word babysitter was written so many times it started to look like a foreign word or misspelled. I am between steps 9 and 10! So it's time for me to quit running into grown up kids that I used to babysit and marvel at how old they've gotten, or that they are getting married or having babies or whatever. It's time to own up to the fact that I am getting old just as fast as they are.
This little exercise also proves to me that while childhood seemed like a long eternity (because I still feel like a child in many ways), in fact it was only a short timespan. But your childhood stays with you your whole life, despite how brief. I need to spend these important years shaping my child's view of the world and building memories for her.
Of course I knew all of this before. But it's nice to have a chat with a teenage babysitter and see the generations mapped out in quick succession before her. Oh what the future holds for her! Oh, what the future holds for me!
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