You know how you don't notice your hair growing? Or how you missed when your eyes sprouted wrinkles out the sides like you just squinted fireworks? You are just too close to see it. Kids too. You blink and they are big. How does this happen? How do these microscopic changes pile on top of each other without me noticing? And then something snatches the cloth from your eyes and your bigger children are exposed to you in one heartbreaking second that squeezes your heart so hard it burns. It is little things that make the cloth drop...Finny's hair so long and in very sober low pigtails instead of her usual boisterous waterfalls on the top of her head. Well, that couldn't change overnight, so why does it feel like it did? Or this picture of Molly's feet:
Those aren't baby feet, are they? I mean, who am I kidding? Those are girl feet. Not even little girl feet. Actually, those little toes are attached to a girl who's a wee bit grumpy these days. Like, teenager grumpy, for heaven's sake. Tears are close to the surface for her lately. But she is still my Moo, so a laugh is always easy to coax out.
How about this colouring for a little Easter contest at our local (horrific) mall? Definite big girl colouring.
And this sort of sums it up:
Three pairs of jeans stacked up. Molly's are on the bottom. The only new pair. Then Finny's, which came to her via her sister. She's still cool with that. And then Lukey's on top. The worn knees. Because he's the third to get them. And outgrow them. The worn little knees on those jeans were earned by three pairs of chubby knees exploring the world. Crawling. Digging. Meowing. Snoozing. And now that the bottom hem has risen up on Lukey's fat little ankles, they are begging for retirement. And I am burying my nose in that worn denim, breathing in the scent of five years, six knees and three lovely, sprouting little people.
2 comments:
I fully appreciate your aerial shot of the no-longer-little-girl feet. It's amazing how our children's growth is so evident in this body part; but, now I understand why older parents still say their grown kids are their babies, even when they have size 12+ feet!
re: your email
Yes, we are often in North Van, and we lately we combine it with a trip to Tofino. Plus there's been trips to Penticton for hubby to do and or watch Ironman.
Our swap family is in Florida, Calley blogs at http://www.theecochic.com.
Your swap familY?
My son gets so frustrated when he outgrows his shoes. He doesn't understand why the shoes don't grow with him.
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