It’s been a crazy period. You’ve been digging out of it ever since they were born, since they came home and the sleep deprivation began. You’ve been getting them dressed, getting them to the doctor, getting them walking and talking, getting them to this birthday or that one and then into school and then to…wherever your kids happen to be in age right now.

How easy it can be in the midst of all this, especially when you’re thinking of the next milestone, the next obligation, the next grade, to miss what’s happening, which is to say their childhood. 

You look up one day and realize that infancy is over. You look up one day and realize that there will be no more days where you have them with you all day because that phase of their and your life is through. You look up one day and realize you have a ten-year-old, that ten years have gone by and that ten years are gone. You look up one day and realize they’re no longer a child at all.

Take a moment today and think about that. Not how old your kid is going to be this year, but how many years they’ve already lived. Think of the phases past, the grades graduated from, the milestones now receding in the distance.

Tempus Fugit.

It goes by very fast…and when it’s gone, it is gone.

Parent accordingly.

P.S. To help you remember this—arguably one of the most crucial truths of parenting—we created the Daily Dad Tempus Fugit Medallion.

It will ground you in those moments when you’re ready to scroll your phone over sitting down on the floor and playing with them or asking them about their day.

It will keep you present when you want to dissociate from the frustrations of the day instead of engaging with your kids.

It will remind you, every day, of the fleeting, precious time you have with them while they’re this young.

I keep mine in my pocket and even its presence there, the weight of it, reminds me. It has helped me to make the most of every moment with my kids.

Get yours at the Daily Dad Store today, before you miss out on another precious minute.