AuburnChick's Adventures

Well, you know that I turned 38 on Saturday. Little signs have started cropping up…making me realize that I’m getting older. But today, I figured out, sadly, that my children are growing older too, and that realization made me, quite frankly, a little sad.

It all started when I was notified that my son had been accepted into an academic program at our local high school. It’s the same program that my daughter is enrolled in. They have a special pinning ceremony, with soon-to-be Juniors acting as mentors for incoming Freshmen. So, I had one child doing the pinning, and the other child being pinned. No problem. I can handle this.

Mr. AuburnChick took the children (yes, I still call them that) to the mall to get nice clothes for the affair. Mustn’t let them go half-naked, you know.

Daughter picks out a dress because “all the girls” are wearing dresses this year. Poor darling is used to soccer attire, so the thought of donning a dress (that’s a little too airy) is appalling. Regardless, she comes home with a little something.

Son picks out nice dress pants, a long-sleeve button down shirt, and a fantastic tie…his first. He even gets new dress shoes and a good belt. Ok…I’m still doing fine with this.

Until they got dressed this evening.

Daughter had gone to a friend’s house to get ready. Son was home. Son comes out of the bedroom, and I look around…waiting for my real son to emerge.

What’s this? Oh, the young man who came out IS my beloved son.

There is no way that this boy-man person is my son. He’s much too tall. He’s not as skinny as I remember. I finally accept the fact that this is my child, and I proceed to inspect him.

When did those broad shoulders appear? And more importantly, when did he grow as tall as me? Well, actually, he’s a tiny bit taller than me. And his feet…they are the same size as his father’s!

As I watch Mr. AuburnChick fixing little AuburnChickadee’s tie, I am visibly moved. I flash-forward to three years down the road when a not-so-little AuburnChickadee/man will be getting ready for his prom.

Sigh…

My son complies with my request to pose for a picture in front of the fireplace.

Sigh…

He looks so handsome and grown-up through the lens of the camera.

We get to the school, and I sit knitting happily, still musing about my son’s transformation. All of a sudden, I spy my daughter walking into the gym.

Who is this girl? Her legs are not clad in shin guards, and I see cleavage. Her hair has been straightened, and I suspect there’s a bit of makeup on that beautiful cherubic face.

Sigh…

My children gamely pose for the required pictures…one of them together, and then separate pictures.

Inside of my head, I’m having a little conversation with myself. When did this happen? It seems like only yesterday when I was watching my daughter ride a bike for the first time without training wheels. Now she’s carefully maneuvering herself around a high school gym wearing shoes with tiny heels.

When did my son suddenly grow into this confident young man? It wasn’t too long ago when I knew he was nervous because of the way he stuck his tongue in his cheek when faced with a new situation. I watch him stride purposefully to his chair, standing proudly when his name is called and accepting his pin with a quiet assurance of the future that is running pell-mell to greet him.

As I watch my children emerging from childhood into pre-adulthood, I am reminded, ever so briefly, of my own feelings of eagerness at that point in my life. And although I am excited for them, I am still sad. Despite all of my complaining about the woes of raising teenagers, at the heart of things, I am simply a mother deeply appreciative of the time I’ve had them in my fold and aware that this is the time when they will be pulling away from me, establishing their own identities.

Somehow, though, I’ll always see them as if in double-vision…one as they are today, and one of them as those sweet, innocent babes making chalk angels on the driveway (they colored the entire driveway with blue chalk and then laid down and made angels like people in the north do in the snow) and turning my tub blue in the bath afterward.

Sigh…

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: children, growing up |