Today while emptying the dishwasher I came upon a broken Charlie Brown plate.

Now, it is a cheap little kid’s plastic plate and I probably paid a dollar for it, but it made me so sad that it was broken and I had to throw it out.

That plate represents something that is quickly disappearing:  items of my daughters’ youngest years.   You see, they are 9 and 12 and really too old for Charlie Brown plastic plates, but I keep them and keep using them, anyway.

We used to be a house filled with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Playhouse Disney, Dora and The Wiggles (whatever happened to The Wiggles?  Are they still even a thing?).   We had toy boxes overflowing with building blocks, dollhouses with every accessory, picture books with big words, pretend cell phones and Barbie dolls.

Now?  We have iPods.  We have chapter books, craft projects, real cell phones and One Direction (that’s a boy band btw).  We have teeny-bop type Disney and Nick shows on Netflix and Hunger Games movie time.

Instead of tantrums we have attitude and hormones, which really isn’t that different than a tantrum, really, and we have mouths that run overtime saying things that really aren’t thought through instead of mouths trying to form new sounds.

Recently the girls were “fundraising” to buy a trampoline.  I suggested they sell their dollhouses and some other toys they haven’t used in a long time.  While I am glad to have the basement cleared out, it made me take pause to realize that we were crossing over from young childhood to tween and teen years.  I took a moment to remember 12 sitting in the sunny front room playing dolls for an hour or more when she was 18months old.

While looking for a book to read with 9 recently, I realized that both of her bookcases were filled with books that she is too old for now.  I had to go to 12’s room and take a series from her.  Her bookshelf is also filled with books that are too young.  Somehow getting rid of the books is way harder than the dollhouses.  I need to find a little girl to share these with, or maybe my sister will have a baby girl someday?

Last night, while sitting with a client and their 3 year old, she mentioned “Handy Manny” and I was so glad that I knew who he was and it seemed like just last year that I was watching that program with the girls.

I am glad that there are certain memories of the girls when they were little that I have engrained into my memory so clearly that I can pull them up anytime.  I am also glad that I have a lifestyle that allows me to be with them so often.  I am glad we share so many interests and that they are growing into such smart, well-mannered and talented young ladies.

All that said, I miss the little girls eating snacks off of Charlie Brown plastic plates.

So, the Charlie Brown plate went in the trash, but I still have a few fun ones left.  As a matter of fact, 12 is right this moment eating a snack off of a “Thumper” plate.  I know it won’t be long before they are all broken and it will not be long before my girls have moved onto yet another new phase, but I do love the items that remind me of their young years.

Meanwhile, I realize that one day I will look upon 9 and 12 as being the “young years” and they will grow up and move on and do all the amazing things I know they hold within their power.  So, today, I reflect upon the Charlie Brown plastic plate days and try to also admire and honor the current incarnation of these amazing young ladies.