Here’s a dirty little secret that parents of very young children know but never actually say: there are days that the hours seem to pass very slowly. My energetic early risers wake up with the sun and go to bed nearly 14 hours later. A little too much caffeine for me and little too much TV for the kids, however, usually gets us through the rough spots so we can end our days peacefully.

But then there are days like tomorrow, where I sit and wonder where the time has actually gone. Tomorrow my daughter graduates from pre-school. It seems like the blink of an eye. Where have the last five years gone? I marvel with such pride at this little girl who seems to have appeared before my eyes. What was my life like before her? There are times I can hardly remember.

I’m a messy mix of emotions thinking about it all. The four walls of Little Ones Nursery School in Northbrook have become her home away from home. The caring and very skilled teachers who loved her will always have a special place in my heart. I think it’s probably for the best that my daughter seems to be more focused on where she is going than what she is leaving behind.

I guess that’s what graduations do to us. And this one, being my first graduation as the parent, really has me thinking, reflecting and hoping.  For the first time my child is an age I actually remember being. As she talks about kindergarten, I have vague recollections of my class at the same age, how the room was set up and even the color of my chair.

I hope that tomorrow is a day she will remember, if not into her adult life, at least for right now. I want her to always feel as special and celebrated as she will tomorrow. And as I take my seat in the audience I will remember that those long days with my little ones will be over way too soon.