Growth Spurt

Ever have a day or week when everything you knew suddenly changed? It’s happened to me a few times with our kids over the years, when everyone seemed to make a big change all at once. It happened again.This week my daughter went on a road trip with her friend, in another state, all by themselves. And my son drove a motorized vehicle without his mother in the passenger seat or anyplace else close by. And today my baby got her braces removed, along with any traces of being my baby.

These are the same people who once fit inside my belly and counted on me for every possible need they had. I can remember holding each one in my lap while rocking them, trying to visualize that their legs could ever actually be as long as mine. Now it feels like when they were toddlers, pushing my arms away while climbing off my lap to walk on their own. I can remember the bittersweet feeling of them not needing me to be quite so close anymore, it was exactly what we had been working toward and now that it has arrived, I’m not convinced it’s what I wanted at all. But that doesn’t matter really because time has continued to move on.

Just like when they were little, I will celebrate the milestones and not resent them for growing up and growing away, but I sure would like a little more time in that rocking chair after these last few days. Lord, I thank you for my treasures and for letting me be their mom.