Growing....

~Memorial Day 2009

 

~Memorial Day 2010

 

As much as i do know that growing up is simply a part of life, i did not know that it happens in what seems like, the blink of an eye.

I am blessed to be a stay-at-home Mommy. Granted, some days, "blessed" is the last word i'd use to describe how i feel, but every night, i let God know how grateful i am to be able to witness Emma growing up on a daily basis. To watch a child learn, well, is amazing.

Today, Emma and i went shopping. We needed a few things for summer and of course, Emma wanted to see "da fwloers". And so, we shopped.

In the toy section, Emma saw some "Little People". For those who don't know it, Little People are Emma's second favorite thing in the world, next to Pachi. She loves these things. And so, i, being the pushover Mommy, thought it would be neat to have this particular package she saw as it had a little dog, a little girl with a soccer ball and a soccer ball in it. Emma didn't try to rip them out of the package. She just held on to the package, telling me "We open when i in da car".

As i was putting the bags in the car, Emma was still holding on to her Little People package. As i picked her up to put her into her car seat, she looks at me and says:

"Tank you fwor bying dis for me."

I could feel tears in my eyes starting to well up as i put her in the car seat and told her "You are very welcome, Emmy."

On the way home from our shopping trip, i stopped in at a drive-thru to get a diet Lemonade and a small order of fries for Emma. After handing the fries to her, she eats a fry and says, "Wets share dees fwies, Mama!"

What?

Yesterday, she came to me and asked for a towel so she could wipe her slide down in the back yard.

That use to be my job, to wipe the slide down. Wiping is my job.

My husband tells me often that the very best gift he and i can give Emma is to make sure that she is self-sufficient, that she has the tools that she needs to live the very best life she can. Tools like learning about God, leaning to depend on Him, taking care of your things, saying "please" and "thank you" and learning to help others are the foundation stones for a child that are important to have.

He's right, of course, but don't tell him that i said that.

I sometimes have to remind myself that story of the man who finds a butterfly who is struggling to break free from his cocoon. The man, thinking that he is "helping" the butterfly, pulls the butterfly out so it can fly away. But, unknowingly, he has hurt the butterfly as this struggling part is part of the butterfly's way of being strong enough, to live on it's own. By helping the butterfly so much, the man has crippled the beautiful butterfly.

There is a lesson in that story for me....

Stepping back, letting Emma get on the 'big girl slide', letting her run until she can't run any more, standing back as she learns something is also "my" job. You can protect something too much....when you think that you are doing the 'helpful' thing.

So, if you see a Mommy at the park, holding her breath till she is blue in the face, while a little girl swings on the big girl swing, just smile at me.

I'm learning to let go a little...