Observations

Dear Campus School Families,

At this very moment when the days are short and the nights long, nature shifts;
the slow climb into longer days and more light begins. Every day brings
incremental growth that is hard to notice until one day you realize that it is not
getting dark at 4:20pm anymore - it's 5:00pm and there is still light in the sky.
This slow pattern of change is mirrored in many human activities, with the
growth and development of a child being one of them. I just realized, for
example, that my 16 year old is as tall as I am. When did that happen? The
answer, of course, is slowly and over time, in a way that is barely noticeable
until, suddenly, it is.

These are the ways our children change right before us. One day we notice our
child handles a situation with more maturity and perspective, or uses a more
sophisticated vocabulary, is newly witty, or can suddenly play that challenging
violin part flawlessly. What is more difficult to notice are the myriad steps that
got our child to this new state, the daily and subtle shifts that accumulate over
time to create a changed person.

So as we reach the shortest day of the year know that a minute here and a
minute there all add up to 15 minutes then an hour and then many hours of
additional daylight, just as the slow and steady growth of our children suddenly
leaves us with someone new, someone both deeply familiar and delightfully
surprising. And isn't this one of the great joys of parenting?

My best to you and your family for a happy holiday and peaceful new year.

Warmly,
Chris