Strange Sensation

Molly is now four and a half years old. That means that I have had her pretty much constantly with me for almost half a decade. A fairly long time.

However, she is rapidly approaching a time when I will have to share her with the rest of the world. Kindergarten is coming quickly. Molly as a separate individual, on her own. Out there.

I have enrolled the girls in a program where they do art for an hour and then get taken to a half hour swim lesson. This "combo program" is catchily called Splish Splash Arts and Crafts (although, I would argue that it should actually be Arts and Crafts Splish Splash given the order of activities...). There is zero parent participation. The kids even put their bathing suits on under their clothes so as to minimize the need for one-on-one attention. I dropped Molly and Finny off and went to get coffee with Lukey. At the end of the first hour, I went to a spot where I could see the kids through glass as they made their way into the pool. It was weird.

Of the seven kids in the class, two were genetically connected to me...actually came into existence through my body. But for a bizarre moment, they were just kids. Anonymous and nameless. Just two more kids in a clump of kids I don't know. Just two more little, demanding faces that poor Nikki (the instructor) had to keep track of because she is paid to do so. My all important (to me) off spring were only two more names on a clipboard to Nikki. Out they venture...away from the world they have inside our home, where they are well-known, well-loved and (moderately) well-tended. Out to a place where they have to prove themselves, establish themselves and assert themselves.

So strange. Just two more kids in a cluster that I would completely ignore if they weren't there. Out there...