It's a bird, it's a plane ....

Time flies, or so they say. But for many years I managed to ignore the passage of time.

From about 1994 to 2004, I lived essentially the same life. I resided in New York City, worked and dated. I moved apartments twice, changed jobs a lot and had a couple of boyfriends, but the through line of my life remained relatively unchanged. For those things that did change, I had ways of covering them up: A few more gray hairs? More highlights! Frown lines? Nothing a little Botox can’t fix. Ticking biological clock? Let’s have another cocktail and forget it.

But now that I am a mother, nothing stays the same. This week alone, life has handed me irrefutable evidence that time is rushing by with alarming quickness.

1. August and Finley turned six months old.
2. August and Finley tried solid food for the first time. One moment, only milk, formula and a little Tylenol had passed through their perfect pink lips. The next moment, mashed up avocado mixed with breast milk was running down their chins.
3. Finley rolled over all the way from back to front for the first time.
4. August pushed up onto all fours. In a day, two days, a week, he will surely be crawling. At least that seems to be his intention. (I wonder if sleeping through the night is on the boys' agenda!?)

It always seemed like a cliché to say time flies. But it does move –- it runs, it leaps, it rushes through the 59th street station to catch the subway, it speeds past you on the 10 freeway in the fast lane. It goes by like the wind sweeping your hair into your face and obscuring your sight for a moment. Time, it turns out, is breathtakingly fast.

I don’t know what point I’m trying to make exactly, but I guess it’s this: I am amazed and appalled by how quickly my sons are changing. I can’t believe my little guys are already so big. I can barely remember what they were like two months ago. I can’t believe this is how fast babyhood goes. Some days -- like when I have to get up five times in a night to soothe crying babies -- I want to fast forward a few years. Some days -- like when August pushes away from me so he can go explore some new fascinating horizon -- I want to freeze time. Mostly, I try to savor the newness of each day, with mixed success. Sometimes I mourn the end of the day and other times I celebrate it.

Anyway, it's been six life-changing months of motherhood. And this is just the beginning.

A Plea for Advice from Working Parents

So many things have happened since I last blogged, I can’t even remember all the hundreds of blog posts I’ve started in my mind and never actually wrote. As a mom to twins, I find that time runs away from me each day. In the mornings, I come up with an ambitious list of things to accomplish. By the afternoon, I can’t even remember what was on the list. And now, the passage of time is speeding up even more.

The dreaded deadline in every working mom’s life is approaching fast: the end of my maternity leave.

The moment August and Finley came out of me, I started to wonder how on earth I could ever be parted from them again. (I mean, look at that adorable face of Finley!) They are, of course, the most precious things in the world to me. I hate the idea of giving them over to someone else for most of their waking hours every weekday. But this is not a debate I can have. My family requires me to work so that we can do little things like, say, eat and pay the mortgage.

As the day of my return to the rat race has gotten closer, I’ve started to come to terms with my new life. In fact, there’s a secret little part of me that is relieved at the idea leaving the house unencumbered, of being able to walk across the street and get a sandwich without pushing a double stroller, of talking to adults about something besides diapers, about wearing clothes that are not covered in drool.

I’ve talked to lots of my friends who work and have kids, and they all tell me two things. 1. It’s really hard. 2. But it’s not as bad as you think.

I’ve also been brainstorming with my husband and just on my own about how I can walk the tightrope of being a good, hard-working employee and a good, present mother. Each moment I can spend with my boys will be like an amazing meal to be savored, so I’m trying to carve out as much time as I can in my new schedule. Only time will tell how it works.

So I humbly ask your advice my friends: If you are a working parent (a mom or a dad), how do you strike a balance between your job and your family? Do you have any tricks, any suggestions for how this works? I very much appreciate any wisdom you have to share.