We’ve already spoken our first words, laughed for the first time,
Taken our first steps, raced for the first time, had our first grazed knees,
Taken our first family picture, had our first nightmares,
Spent our first nights full awake, and had our first late-night temptations,
We still have the memories and the times we played dominoes,
Toys that make too much music and the way-too-early mornings,
The shortened working days, 4:30 pm at the latest
And the walks in the park, whenever they felt like it,
We continue to marvel at the drawing of a cosmonaut
Or a little play-dough man with one arm bigger than the other
We still want to film those unbelievable moments
That are lost forever as soon as the film starts rolling,
We had our very first hospital trips, with our worries, our first fears
The first big fights, and the first punishments given against our will
The first dumb gifts with their name on their mug
The naps, half asleep on the couch while watching Pocahontas
We wait, in no hurry for the first homework,
For that first time we freak out over an exam, or the time when soon we’ll have butterflies in our tummies
The first reports for fools when they’re having fun
The first bad grades, for the roots of the hypotenuse
We are still a little bit afraid of the 40 pound backpack
With the spiral notebooks, dividers, a pencil case overflowing with pens
And then there will be the first phone, go to our first get-together, and our first parties
Experience our first breakups, that first awkward date,
It will be the time of all the first times
The first hangovers, the first nights that no one will want to talk about,
We will watch them doing their thing with a little sadness
Knowing that we will only be spectators of their life
There will be the first time they pass their driving class
Which will enable them to leave as far and as quick as possible, and then will follow
Their first apartment with their good looking Pocahontas
They will come back to empty their room, I can’t even imagine,
I hope we will still have that essential feeling
That we’ve prepared them well to face this huge mess
With a joy that no words can describe,
To see them being brave and mature in their life choices
We’ll be left with a house with one or two empty rooms,
Back to the old days of when we were a young couple, gone our title of “expert parents”
We will only be able to look forward to the future, with appreciation for the past
Take a lot of pictures of tomorrow, to fill out the pages from yesterday,
And then the unoccupied rooms will be messed up once again,
By new generations of grazed toys,
The cycle will do its merciless and fateful job
And we will find some modern toys that will always make too much music
Among new screams we will think to ourselves “we did it!”
Like a new coat that protects us
This surreal comfort, this springboard, this crutch
This run-of-the-mill miracle, we made a family
And, plopped down next to my grandkids in front of the TV,
I can see myself taking a nap,
Just make sure you’ve put on Pocahontas