I've had kids in elementary school for 16 years. Now that my youngest is moving on, I realize I wish I'd done a few things differently.

Courtesy of Jamie Davis Smith

Time is a thief. When each of my four children was born, I thought they would be little forever. The baby and toddler years are so all-consuming that it seems like they will never end. But I learned, quickly, that the axiom that the days are long but the years are short is all too true. By the time this reality sank in, however, it was too late to go back and change the way I approached their childhood.