Spring, When did that happen?

Wake up, Spring where are you? My kids were watching "Franklin" about waiting for spring. I can't wait ... I'm growing seed in tiny pots, watching our geese come in and look for nesting grounds, poking around in the dirty to see what is happening in my yard, checking the composter and dreaming of planting new items in my yard. Spring must be here now. I'm not sure you know when it actually arrives until it's well into spring. The seed packages say "after last frost"... when is that exactly. You have to have several weeks of no frost to be sure it won't return. Then you're past the first chance to plant.

I think waiting for spring planting is like watching my kids grow. Growing children are something we see everyday and yet they suddenly seem to be in a new stage and we missed noticing until we look back and realize "last frost" was last week. A budding young son no longer needs me to spread his jam. A growing young lady, no longer wants the restrictions of being told what to study and when. Change doesn't seem to warn us ahead of time. It'd be nice to always be prepared, but somehow, I think we'd still feel a little off guard.

OH, I do want my children to grow. I want to love every stage of their growing years. I don't want a 40 yr old son who still needs me to cut his meat. I want my daughter to be able to self-regulate her studies. I want them to grow and mature. I want "summer" to come, but for now... I'll enjoy spring!