The baby turns 5

Eliot, our youngest, turned 5 today. Wow. I work from home and have had the privilege of being with all three of our kids each day as they grew up, but Eliot will be off to kindergarten in the fall and that chapter of my life will come to a close.

A part of me is really looking forward to having the entire day laid out before me Monday through Friday, and I wonder just how much I'll be able to get done with so much freedom. But I know I'll miss days like today, when I picked Eliot up from preschool, took him out to pick up his own special birthday toy (a Spider-Man action figure, no surprise there) and then let him choose a lunch location before stopping at the library on the way home. It was a memorable afternoon for both of us, and one I couldn't enjoy if I worked an office job.

But everything changes in the fall, making this particular birthday a special one for this reflective dad.