We are embarking on a new parenting moment this week. We are driving (a long hot 7 hours) to Boise this next weekend for a family baby blessing. Ryan's sister lives there, as well as my parents and my brother. We approached Grace on a whim to ask if she wanted to stay longer with her cousins and fly home on her own at the end of the week. At first she said "no" she didn't want to- even if it meant spending more time with grandparents and cousins. But, this morning, she woke up and told me she wants to go on a plane by herself. This is a big milestone for Grace. She tends toward more of a perfectionist, and wants to be fully prepared and is at times timid about trying new things. For all those thinking we're crazy.. its only a hour plane ride gate to gate :-). She wants to know if we think she's brave. We do tell her she is brave, but hope that she wants to do this for herself, not us. ( tonight she did tell me she wants to ask grandpa if he'll take her to the little store to buy a magazine or something before the flight... I do not know of a magazine that is appropriate for a 7 year old! She's already scheming..)
I think it will be a great experience. Ever since she was small and tended toward this perfectionist streak, I've been trying to break it behind the scenes ( meeting with teachers, signing her up for new things, a bit of force when needed)- this is a shocker compared to getting her to perform in her first ballet recital ( sidebar: she was 4, she was fully involved in practices, but at the recital, she refused to go on the stage. Instead, Ryan ended up standing next to her on the side of the stage behind the curtain while she did her steps. Every once in awhile you could see a foot kick out on cue- she never fully made an appearance beyond that).
All this is coming at a time for me when I'm painfully realizing how fast they are growing and as we move out of one stage, the realization that we'll not be going back to that... getting rid of baby things, strollers, moving to booster seats... it really does seem to go fast. When its really crazy and I want to pull out my hair, I try to remember that someday my heart will ache to go back to this time, that I will sorely miss having a 4 year old in the house, or a 7 year old that is so curious about the world around her. It feels as if our little family is complete for now, I can't physically put myself through a pregnancy. I've thrown it out to the universe that if a child happens to land in our laps, we'd be more than willing, but we're not going to actively search at this point.... and so, these days are so precious.
I think it will be a great experience. Ever since she was small and tended toward this perfectionist streak, I've been trying to break it behind the scenes ( meeting with teachers, signing her up for new things, a bit of force when needed)- this is a shocker compared to getting her to perform in her first ballet recital ( sidebar: she was 4, she was fully involved in practices, but at the recital, she refused to go on the stage. Instead, Ryan ended up standing next to her on the side of the stage behind the curtain while she did her steps. Every once in awhile you could see a foot kick out on cue- she never fully made an appearance beyond that).
All this is coming at a time for me when I'm painfully realizing how fast they are growing and as we move out of one stage, the realization that we'll not be going back to that... getting rid of baby things, strollers, moving to booster seats... it really does seem to go fast. When its really crazy and I want to pull out my hair, I try to remember that someday my heart will ache to go back to this time, that I will sorely miss having a 4 year old in the house, or a 7 year old that is so curious about the world around her. It feels as if our little family is complete for now, I can't physically put myself through a pregnancy. I've thrown it out to the universe that if a child happens to land in our laps, we'd be more than willing, but we're not going to actively search at this point.... and so, these days are so precious.
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