These tough little kids. They fall down. They get back up. They skin their knees and bleed. They are growing, constantly, pushing through and out of their clothes. Wearing out their shoes, burning through backpacks and bikes, and an endless parade of toys.

It can be easy to miss, you know. How fragile and ephemeral they are. Or not them exactly, but childhood at least.

We talked recently about the haunting passage in Irene Vallejo’s book Papyrus in which she talks about her disgusting childhood habit of wiggling her loose teeth as her mother read to her. She remembers that sensation of the tooth coming detaching from the root, the little smear of blood, the hole in her gum. “My childhood was breaking apart, leaving gaps in my body and little white shards behind me,” she writes. “The time for listening to stories would soon be over, though I didn’t know it yet.”

The same could be said for every outgrown shirt, every nail clippings, every hair left in the sink, every handprint smudge on a window. These are the remnants of a childhood. This is the refuse of a great migration, a one way trip away from right here and now. They are leaving their old selves behind, they are leaving their youth behind. They are coming apart in your hands.

It’s a sad and sobering thing isn’t it? But here is the thing. Right now, it’s still here. Right now it is still intact. You have it right now. Your child’s childhood is happening right now. So be present and show up for it—right here, right now.

P.S. We created our Tempus Fugit medallion (“Tempus Fugit” is Latin for “Time Flies”) as a reminder to be present in each and every moment we have with our kids. Carry it around in your pocket or purse so you remember to be right here, right now with your children. Grab yours today at the Daily Dad Store!