Can Your Kids Come Out and Play?
This weekend, two little kids came over to our house, knocked on our door, and asked, "Can your kids come out and play?" They were two little girls, about 6 and 7 years old. They live a few houses down.
Wow.
This might seem like no big deal to you. But it's pretty exciting to me. It's the beginning of a whole new chapter. I am teetering at the edge of a huge parental divide. I'm standing at the boundary between being a mommy to my babies and being a mom to my kids. My babies are on the verge of Big-Kid-dom. And it just came out of nowhere. This is a good thing, right? Am I ready for this?
My wee ones are two and four years old. But Lena will be three this month. And Elias will be FIVE in August. Right now, when they go outside and play, I go with them. I used to go outside and play with them and I still do, but I also sit on the curb and watch them play with each other. Soon, I imagine I will do that more than anything else. And after that, I imagine they'll ask me why I'm out there with them at all... hovering.
It's bound to happen. They're gonna grow up. They're gonna get bigger. They're going to go and play outside with kids I hardly know. And instead of being right in the thick of things, I will watch them from the curb, or from the doorway, or from the window. Soon, I imagine I'll be calling the neighbors to find out whose backyard they landed in. Soon I'll know which house has the pool, which has the trampoline. I can still be a mommy from a little farther off, can't I? Sure I can.
This is good. I think I'm ready.
Wow.
This might seem like no big deal to you. But it's pretty exciting to me. It's the beginning of a whole new chapter. I am teetering at the edge of a huge parental divide. I'm standing at the boundary between being a mommy to my babies and being a mom to my kids. My babies are on the verge of Big-Kid-dom. And it just came out of nowhere. This is a good thing, right? Am I ready for this?
My wee ones are two and four years old. But Lena will be three this month. And Elias will be FIVE in August. Right now, when they go outside and play, I go with them. I used to go outside and play with them and I still do, but I also sit on the curb and watch them play with each other. Soon, I imagine I will do that more than anything else. And after that, I imagine they'll ask me why I'm out there with them at all... hovering.
It's bound to happen. They're gonna grow up. They're gonna get bigger. They're going to go and play outside with kids I hardly know. And instead of being right in the thick of things, I will watch them from the curb, or from the doorway, or from the window. Soon, I imagine I'll be calling the neighbors to find out whose backyard they landed in. Soon I'll know which house has the pool, which has the trampoline. I can still be a mommy from a little farther off, can't I? Sure I can.
This is good. I think I'm ready.
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