I Think I Blinked
We walked through the door hand-in-hand, just as we have for the past few years. She unzipped her coat, glanced up at me, and said, "I don't want to go with you," as she carefully hung her jacket on the hook in the Big Kids' Room.
She's one of them now. The Big Kids.
In the ten seconds it took to walk into the kitchen to place her lunch in the fridge, days long gone by flashed through my mind.
There was a time when she was the youngest of the kids. I carried her in every day and passed her to the waiting arms of a caregiver.
There was a time when she did a Frankenstein-walk into the One-Year Old Room as I fought with baby gates and child containment systems along the way.
There was a time when I would bribe The Toddler to go to a teacher so that I could get to work on time.
There was a time when swarms of kids would gather round as she walked into the room with the other Preschoolers.
I returned to the Big Kids Room and looked on as Alexis stood talking to another girl. As she showed off her freshly-painted fingernails and poofy blue skirt, time stood still.
In those ten seconds, everything had changed.
There were no tears.
There was no hug and kiss goodbye.
There was just an independent Big Kid who, for the first time ever, hadn't walked with her momma to the kitchen to put her lunch away.
It goes by so fast.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Reader Comments (17)
Awwwwwww. She is getting so big. I love the little photo journal. :)
poor momma. It's a heartbreaking moment, those "lasts" You never really know for sure that they're happening until it's too late...I can tell you that even though Mag is VERY independent she now LOVES our special time together!! I LOVE Alexis's pictures from when she was little, Mag had those same big eyes and pretty much the same hair do, they make me smile!
*sob*
And then you blink again and she is talking to you via Skype from 200 miles away, bitching about the size of her gas bill...
I know the feeling - I am not sure how my baby got to be SEVEN!
Ugh. I am all about stopping time. If I could have a super power, it would seriously be that. I could make the whole world stop so I could clean my entire house, read some books, take some online classes, watch some movies, and then I would not have missed anything.
Dude, I know.
Okay... I'm all verklempt now. I need to go call my College kid.
I know the feeling. You can hold your breathe and not turn blue, in the time it takes for the independent school girl to turn into a teenager slamming her bedroom door in angry protest. Blink and she's an adult. Oh, yes...they do grow up way too fast. (Hugs)Indigo
Oh - I could so relate to this post. I was marveling the other night at photos of my oldest (who is now 14) and how that just two years ago, she was a gawky, insecure little girl and now.... she and her friends resemble my peers! My two boys are still young (4 and 6), but.... it was, literally, just yesterday (right?) that they were both preschoolers - chubby, baby-like, playing with their Thomas trains instead of the Wii. And my youngest.... well, she just turned 3 and... as you know .... she is well on her way to "preschoolerdom", and she's my baby! I mean, she is still in 2T pull-ups, has a baby face and babbles sentences that we can't understand for the life of us, but.... it won't be long :-(. Hugs to you, and.... trust me - every stage is great. Enjoy it all. I do know how it feels when that reality hits you, though.
you kinda broke my heart this morning. sheesh!
I don't understand how this happens either... but it just keeps on happening, doesn't it?
oh my - did Momma cry?
Man. Yeah. I'm looking at BB a lot right now and thinking, "When did he start looking like a little boy?" I'm really kind of emo about it. :(
Good HEAVENS she is pretty!
Its rude, really. The way they go and grow up without asking our permission. Mine never asked, anyway. Sigh.
Gracie told me the other night that i didn't need to tuck her in. One hundred million fairies died when she said that and they all lived in my heart. OUCH, kiddo, OUCH.
There you go making me cry again. Darn you *sniffle* No strawberry pie for you...I'm telling Gray's to ban you...*sniffle*
SOB!! I so glad Dylan isn't there yet, because I am NOT ready!! Where do you find the strength?