Independence

There comes a time when a child no longer needs their parents for certain tasks. Usually, the child adamantly refuses help numerous times before the parent finally gives up and lets them take the lead in whatever task is at hand. Then there's my children. They have all been quite independent, but just sort of flow into it. There's no huge declaration of "I CAN DO IT!" They just...do it. Why is this on my mind? Because of this morning.


I was folding laundry in the living room, watching Mikayla as she snacked on her Cheerio breakfast in the kitchen. Lilly was upstairs washing her hands from her own breakfast and making little to no noise. I continued to fold the load of towels, when I heard Lilly's sweet little voice from behind me. "I'm all ready, Mommy. Do you need help?" I turned to look at her and she sure was all ready. She'd gotten herself completely dressed, combed her hair and put a barrette in. Of course, she was wearing Khaki pants, a mint green t-shirt with a flip-flop decal on it, a long-sleeved pink shirt that's almost too small and light blue socks, but she was dressed. And she proudly showed me that all the tags were in back. I knew she could get herself dressed, but she had really brushed her hair (the snarly-monsters were all gone, she informed me) and the barrette was actually holding it back. I was impressed.



When she asked again how she could help, I gave her the kitchen towels and asked her to put them away. She happily carried them to the kitchen, and I heard the drawer open and shut. Then she came back into the doorway from the kitchen to the living room, holding a hot pad. "Mommy, this isn't a towel! It's a lily-pad and it goes up there!" she said, pointing to the rack we hang pot-holders and hot pads on. And she was right. That was right where it belonged and I'd put it in with the towels. Silly me.


Then she decided she wanted to color, so I gave her a large sheet of paper and some markers, and she spelled her name perfectly! It was so good so of course, I had to take a picture. Along with her name, she outlined some horses and her hand, and drew a few apple trees and a snowman! See her name in the bottom corner? Her Y runs into her last L, but she did it all on her own!



I hate how sometimes our kids just seem to grow up overnight. Lilly has always been a little more mature than her age, as is Alayna, for that matter. But it's still not something you expect to just crop up like that. While I encourage and welcome the independence, there's a certain degree of sadness in it, too. I know the time will fly and before I know it all 3 of my girls will be grown and not needing me for anything more than a piece of advice or a few dollars. Ahhhhh!