I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up
Not me!
Not I,
Not me!
Not me!
I won't grow up...
We sat in the pediatrician's office, waiting for a routine 'well baby' check up...maybe our baby was three months old? The woman across from us cradled a much larger child, silky black hair spilling down his shoulders, a tiny spittle of drool at the corner of his mouth. He wore blue. His actual age was four. His mental age was six months. And would be forever. He had been thrown from the back of a pick-up truck along a stretch of Arizona highway when he was just a baby. The woman was his caseworker waiting with him for a check-up.
Now our baby is a world away on his second sojourn, navigating university classes in a foreign language. When Erik first approached us about going to Germany, he was barely in his teens. At sixteen off he went, as a foreign exchange student. So many people asked us how could we let him go?
How could we not?
I felt the same way when my daughter wanted to study abroad in Italy. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't let her explore. I lived that summer vicariously through her, and I am a better woman for it.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh! The first story pierced me. Then the second story made me remember 6 months ago when I was struck by the realization that we'd only have our oldest daughter in the house one more year. Sob, weep, moan, gnash teeth:(
ReplyDeleteWell-said. Doing our job well means they're independent but a little dependency every now and then would be nice :-)
ReplyDeleteI think you love the adult he's becoming even as you miss the child he used to be.
Max is going as Max from "Where the Wild Things Ar" for Halloween and Don and I are thrilled he asked us for some help with his costume. It was like he was in elementary school again.
Pam,
ReplyDeleteShouldn't the title be Peter PAM?? LOL Great blog. I'm so excited for Erik!
Holly
Great entry, Pam! Really tugs at my heartstrings. Makes me want to snatch up my middle-schooler and hold him on my lap, despite the kicking and fussing it would cause. Looking forward to following your blog.
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Lovely entry, Pam! I think letting the kids go when they're ready is every parents' job. Of course the way my teenage son has been acting recently, I hope he's ready SOON (grrrrr).
ReplyDeleteNice. I think teenagers are meant to be just a little annoying so that it will be a little easier to let them go.
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