Illusion

I'm sure you've seen this picture before, the young lady or old lady, depending on your focus. This is the thing I see when I look at my little Shelly. Little girl, too innocent to send off to school, too small, young, precious. Too grown up to be kept home any longer. Does a mother bird ever hesitate before pushing her chicks out of the nest to fly on their own for the first time? Keeping them in the nest any longer would be equivilant to keeping them caged. Keeping Shelly home from school this fall would be the same. Its looming, creeping closer each day.

When I'm folding laundry I often catch myself not knowing whose pants I'm holding. Archer's or Shelly's? Surely these pants I'm folding cannot be Shelly's? They're too long. She's not really that tall, is she? What happened to the little girl clothes? In reality, I'm in denial. Of course. Archer's pants are even longer and there's no mistaking what belongs to which kid. I'm in denial that either of my children are REALLY that tall, their clothes are REALLY that big.

Even E is too big already. Sigh. Watch now, Mom, take a picture now, Mom, because the moment is fleeting and will be gone before you take another breath. Hold the baby NOW, Mom, because in a minute or two he'll be too big to carry. In five minutes they'll all be in school, five more and they'll be gone, grown up, building their own nests.