**Just looking back….
About two years ago, this is the little face that was looking back at me on this golden November evening. It was quite warm and very nice outside. My little ladybug asked if we could go outside to blow bubbles. We always kept bubbles on hand, so the answer was instantly a ‘yes.’ She was 4 years old and quite the little character. Every morning she asked about the school buses we passed on the way to daycare. I had to remind her that once she turned 5 and began school, then we would consider her riding the school bus. In the back of my mind, I always knew we would have to wait on that one. How could I tell her though?
I am so happy and thankful to have her in my life. It is just impossible to see how I could just let her out there into this world. So many things happening day to day and all I want to do is keep her safe. I knew that someday she would blink big eyes and long eyelashes at me and pout her way towards demanding answers. No matter how much she may insist, what I say goes because I am the mother and I make the decisions. At 4 years old, it was easy to work my way through answering questions for her. Oh, how I miss those days!
Now that she is 6, it has gotten tough. She loves to ask “why” about almost everything. I never have a problem with it because I love to share my train of thought with her. I like seeing how her mind wraps around the thought that I put out there for her. She understands things even more now and is able to communicate her own thoughts and feelings with more words.
As her first year of school is coming to an end, I see every day just how much she has learned. She loves to read and write. This morning in the car she taught me something new about biology. The trees right now have white blooms falling off of them. She kept asking me if the tree was molting. Sometimes she will pronounce things wrong or they sound weird, so I just kept saying, “Aida, that is not a word. What is that? What do you mean?” So – I stopped and thought about it. I just know my child would not keep mentioning this molting every day unless she heard it somewhere. I get my phone, with her right there to witness it, and asked Google to define molting (or moulting). AND…. it IS a word! Lol! I really felt silly and proud at the same time. Molting is the shedding of skin, hair, feathers, fur, or an external layer. In essence, the child had taken this word and applied it to what was happening to the tree…and it makes sense because once the blooms fall off there will be new leaves on the tree. It made my inner nerd feel good to be outsmarted by a 6-year old… especially my own.
I just cannot wait to see what the future holds for my little May flower.