Thursday, February 5, 2015

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Kids Growing Up

It happens slowly.

A little voice will say, "I can do it," and will push your hand away when you begin to get them dressed as you've done since they came out of you.

A determined voice will go, "I want to do this without training wheels."


And then.

THEN.

You'll hear, "I don't need you to walk home from school with me anymore."

It's a shock, because you still picture her like this:



But yes, Natalie is now coming home on her own. We're on base, so I don't worry about kidnappers so much. It's not completely safe, because there are insane folks everywhere, but it gives me a little more peace of mind.

Still.

I worried on the first day she came home on her own.

I paced in front of the window. I said, "If she's not home at the proper time, I'm going after her. I'm going to shout her name dramatically like Michelle Pfiffer shouted her son's name when he was lost in The Deep End Of The Ocean."

Tommy was like, "What?" and raised an eyebrow at me.

I told Tom via Facetime that our little girl wanted to come home ALONE. I expected a, "What's going on with our baby girl?" Instead he calmly chewed on M&Ms and went, "It's a good thing. She's growing up."

"Dammit, I don't WANT her to," I snapped.

I mean, I do. But I don't. She still sits in my lap. She still lets me lay out her clothes. She still wants me to come to her school and have lunch with her. I feel like the things she does is slowly drifting away. I'm aching to catch them and hold on, but I know it's impossible.

She still wears her princess clothes, but even now some kids are telling her she's too old for it. I tell her firmly, "You wear your princess dresses whenever you want. I'm a grown adult and I still wear my Anne Boleyn dress." But one I fear she'll proclaim them to be "babyish."

I am pleased to announce that she's been coming home on her own safely.

As I watched out the window that first day, my heart clenched as I saw her riding her bike towards the house.

She was okay.





She was....dare I say it....growing up.

22 comments:

  1. I can relate to this so much, especially since our daughter has always been independent, more so than our son. As much as it hurts to see her growing up and knowing she is independent, it also gives me small comfort in knowing that she will be okay.

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  2. I pick mine up usually. But some days I am traveling and they have to ride the bus home. It drives me crazy because the bus stop is at the end of our road. They don't have to walk far, but it still makes me nervous. I know they have to grow up, but I really want them to stay my little babies forever.

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  3. Is it weird that I'm just ready for my daughter to turn 4 soon? I'm also looking forward to the day when I never have to see a pull-up again.

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  4. It really is amazing how fast they grow up. I am ridiculously close with my 8 year old niece...to me she is still a baby.

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  5. What?? I need to know more about this Anne Boleyn dress lol.

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  6. She is really growing up - and is so beautiful. She can wear what she wants - she looks great in just about any color!

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  7. It's funny. For as independent and strong minded as Erica is, she still prefers for me to walk her into places. And I pick her up from school so there's no walking home from school (which is comforting to me).

    Sometimes I love that she's growing up and other times I just want my little baby back!!! Probably because she had less opinions back then...

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  8. Mine are 5 and 2 now. I feel like they can both stop aging at this point.

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  9. Oh, I get this - it is hard!! Just wait till they are driving on their own - I wait anxiously for the text that says "I've arrived." every morning!!!

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  10. We have to go register for kindergarten this week.. Although I love when she's at preschool, it's breaking my heart that my biggest baby is going to elementary school.

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  11. I was always the independent kid and wanted to to it all by myself. Growing up my mom let me do whatever I wanted but looking back, we probably should have had more boundaries. The places she let me go by myself weren't really appropriate. Like when I was 8 and every day in the summer she dropped me off at the pool for hours with $2

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  12. Watching - and letting - them grow up is the hardest thing you will have to do as a parent. Ask me how I know?

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  13. How does it all happen so fast?? I still look at my oldest, who is now 13, and always see the little toddler she used to be. We want them to grow up and turn into awesome humans, but that doesn't mean it isn't hard!

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  14. Ooh, you gave me shudders with that The Deep End Of The Ocean reference! I saw that in the theater and survived. Clearly it was before I had kids. Although the new Jodi Picoult book is destroying me, by the way.
    Cassidy would say the same thing - growing up is a good thing.

    And sheesh - I hope the princess dresses don't stop here! I wore my Super Girl outfit to 7-11 in June once.

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  15. I know I'm not a mom, but I can sympathize through my nieces and nephew. Time goes by to quickly.

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  16. The dirty little secret that nobody tells us when they're sweet little babies - they grow up. I love it and I hate it at the same time. Sigh.

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  17. Boo! I feel like our first year just flew by, So I'm sure I'll be saying this before too long.

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  18. Boo! I feel like our first year just flew by, So I'm sure I'll be saying this before too long.

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  19. Ugh! I hate this too! But then I don't. It's so confusing!

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  20. Time flies when you're having fun right? I see my nephew and niece shooting up and I wonder where the time went!

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  21. This is so tough. Ugh. I imagine my husband shrug his shoulders and have a "no big deal" reaction too.

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  22. I have never watched this shoe but from what I read right now I think I would love it! We are all humans...I don't use that chart too! Every kid is different, we can't put them in a charts.

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