It’s official. I made the mistake I suppose all parents are destined to make. I blinked. I blinked and the tiny newborns cradled in my arms were suddenly crawling towards me with silly grins on their faces. I blinked and the babies crawling towards me suddenly walked and talked and asked me a thousand questions a day. I blinked again and the chubby toddlers grew long arms and long legs and big opinions. I must have blinked a few more times because this morning I found myself sobbing in a carpool line as I watched Charlie, our third grader, and Libby, our kindergartner, walk into school together. As they walked away from me, I realized one of the most important and special stages of my life has ended. Now, they are as much the world’s as they are mine. And I’ve decided I simply have to stop this whole blinking thing. It’s much too hard on my heart.