Miss Independent

She doesn’t need me as much anymore.

She can brush her teeth & pick out her own clothes.

She can clean up her own room.

She can entertain herself at times.

She will head out on the back porch & water the flowers just because she wants to.

She is growing up faster than I want her too.

Her body fills up most of her bed now.

Her legs are longer.

The blanket that once tucked around her whole body now barely covers her torso.

She will stand at the front door & want to play outside with the other kids.

And without a care in the world, she will play with her friends & pretend she doesn’t see me when it’s time to leave.

She is getting too heavy to carry but I will do it as long as I can.

And the times when she cuddles up in my lap so I can rock her are becoming more few & far between….but when that request comes in, I will drop everything for that moment.

But as moments pass that will not come again, there are new things that stir in my heart.

I get to play more games with her.

Watch her learn & explore.

I get to walk beside her & hold her hand as we just enjoy a summer evening.

I get to talk with her & explain things.

Why we thank God for the moon.

Why mommy kangaroos have pouches.

Why we are kind to people even when they aren’t that way to us sometimes.

I get to teach her things now that I couldn’t before.

I get to dance with her at night to her favorite songs.

I get the joy of watching her help me put her brothers to sleep because they want a hug & a kiss from their big sister.

I get the prayer time, double hug, one kiss & an Eskimo because I’m at the right place at the right time….and you bet that will be a habit that will be hard to break at some point too!!

She wipes my kisses off so I give her more.  And she will wipe them off again.  And I give her more.  And she giggles.  And then I blow kisses in the sky so they fall on her as she sleeps.  She says she sees them  & that they all fell but she will never really know that they will always be there…..ALWAYS!!

I don’t want to look back on a time that I wished away too quickly. 

I want to take all of it in so that there is never a regret that I missed something.  I want to appreciate the daily blessings & not let them pass by without acknowledgment.  Life is too short to get through it in such a hurry that we lose track of the really important things. 

I can always run off and get another corporate job & make lots of money & drive a better car but if it takes away from my Eskimo kisses & sitting on the porch with her watching the birds fly overhead then I’ve missed the whole point of why God places me here.