Time With Them

I went shopping with my girls today.  Overnight, all the trousers have become too short.  I can't say I wasn't warned.  I've been told hundreds of times that children grow quickly.  The day this picture was taken, seven years ago, someone probably mentioned that they grow up so fast.  I knew what that meant at the time.  I don't understand it so much now.  I'm too bewildered.  These past seven years feel like a blink.  I want to slow time and pack it dense with the joy of cupping their faces and pulling their curls and holding them close.

We searched the racks and I thought about their long legs and time flying.  We chatted as I passed jeans into the dressing rooms, "Do you like them," "Look at the sparkles," "The pockets are a little funny," and then, "Mama, what about these ones?"  I smiled and looked around at the others waiting for daughters.  Had they heard?  My girls call me Mama.  There is littleness in them yet.