driving home today,

i was listening to the "mamma mia" soundtrack...again!

the song "slipping through my fingers" came on.

as usual, it had me in tears.

when i hear it, i think of

my three beautiful daughters.

the times we have shared.

the laughter. the tears.

the good times and the bad.

they are truly three of my best friends. but this song makes me realize that i could have been

so much better as a mother. i should have done so much more

with them when there was plenty of time to do it.

now i see the future closing in and i have to admit that before long,

they will all be grown and gone and living on their own.

they will be wives and mothers and i will no longer be the center of their lives.

two of them are already married

and one of them is already a mother.

so i am even closer to being the only girl in the house than i care to admit.

but my intent is not to whine or seem entirely morose.

my intention for posting this is to

remind the rest of you

to make the most of every single minute you have your children near you. don't wait for "later"...it comes far too quickly.

and then "later" becomes "too late".

children are so precious, and once they grow,

they are grown ups forever after.

so love them. play with them.

read to them.

take them all the places you dream of going.

hug them. kiss them.

and never, ever "send" them to bed...

always tuck them in.

and always tell them you love them!!!

sarah, laura, jessica...i love you!

ps...you can hear this song by choosing it

from my playlist to the left!

or here are the words:

schoolbag in hand
she leaves home in the early morning
waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
i watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
and i have to sit down for a while

the feeling that i'm losing her forever
and without really entering her world
i'm glad whenever i can share her laughter
that funny little girl

slipping through my fingers all the time
i try to capture every minute
the feeling in it
slipping through my fingers all the time
do i really see what's in her mind
each time i think i'm close to knowing
she keeps on growing
slipping through my fingers all the time

sleep in our eyes
her and me at the breakfast table
barely awake, i let precious time go by
then when she's gone
there's that odd melancholy feeling
and a sense of guilt i can't deny

what happened to those wonderful adventures
the places i had planned for us to go
well, some of them we did
but most we didn't
and why i just don't know

slipping through my fingers all the time
sometimes i wish that i could freeze the picture
and save it from the funny tricks of time
slipping through my fingers all the time