This morning I dropped Musicman at his grade 8 theory exam and, all of a sudden , I realised that 8 years had gone missing and I hadn't even noticed them going!!

Looking around at all the little grade1 7 and 8 yr olds, nervously clutching their pencil and rulers it seemed like only yesterday we were standing there too - slightly in awe of the teenagers off to sit the higher grades.

Now today, 16yrs old, tall, composed (but still clutching pencil and ruler) .. he was the only grade 8 candidate this session .. having sat one exam each year since he began.

How can this be?? Where have the last 8 years gone .. ?????

Musicman's Mum (feeling old and slightly sad)

Had a similar feeling this morning whilst out buying for shoes for my daughter in adult size 5 and looking longingly at all the cute little shoes she was wearing not very long ago.....

Get this feeling quite often even though mine are still little. makes me take time to stop and appreciate the little things....

It's like that poem:

What life this
If full of care
We have no time
To stand and stare .... etc.

I've always liked this poem and it application to nature. I think it applies to life with kids even more so....

My youngest and I were rattling through some Mazas violin duets last night, and laughing about silly mistakes.

It wasn't until she went up that I too had one of those moments......

It doesn't seem 5 minutes since we bought our first plastic Treble Recorder and there was daughter today starting to look at Grade 8.

When I look at my youngest now I'm looking up as she grew taller than me sometime last year. It feels very strange, especially as her older sister hasn't quite managed that yet.

But there are loads of pluses.

First one which I never forgot was when eldest had graduated and got a job with proper money. I asked her to come and help me with the weekly family shopping. At the checkout we packed in that familiar fashion of years. At the end, brushing me aside, she took her bank card out and paid for the shopping saying 'my treat mom'!

I mean.. pick me up off the ground! I was beaming for weeks! . It only took 22 years!

On another occasion I accidently burnt myself in the kitchen. My son leaped over the back of the sofa, grabbed my hand and thrust it under the cold water tap. He then got the first aid kit out and proceded to apply his first aid skills quietly and competently. He was 18 at the time and I was again beaming for weeks, that my son had responded so competently.

When my no 2 daughter calls and says, I know you like so and so, I have booked tickets for you to see him/her "my treat"

Time flies but there are still some wonderful moments to come...

According to my Dad those moments don't stop.

He phoned me on my 35th birthday to tell me that 'they didn't want to have a daughter that old!'

I'm not a parent but would like to share the words of a head teacher (sadly killed in a car accident when her children were just eleven and thirteen) She said "I want to put a stone on their heads to stop them growing up too quickly."

This is thread is such a nice read - we get so many moans about parents and children it's really great to hear about the plus side of parenting!

My grown-up baby - younger child now aged 22, one day last week ...

'not in for dinner tonight. Taking J out for dinner in London - late birthday present'.

J is her godmother. What a lovely idea. I bet J was delighted.

Ah yes...milestones! Hope the theory went well.

The evening of the same day that Musicman took his theory exam, Viohazard had the chance to do some ensemble practice with his NZ violin teacher's other students. After 3 years, she barely recognized 15 year old Viohazard, but within minutes they had CDs and music everywhere and were talking nineteen to the dozen.

That's 10 years of lugging violin and guitar cases on and off aeroplanes, and of course the cases grew larger with every trip. As the cases have grown larger, though, the need for Mum to check up on spare strings, sheet music etc. gets smaller!