Mom, you can go now!

Last week Samantha was invited to a birthday party. I asked her if she wanted me to stay (the answer has always been yes in the past) and she said no. She's growing up, asserting her independence more and both Daddy and I are very proud of her. At the birthday party, I was talking to some of the other parents who were waiting when Sam ran up to me and said with an annoyed tone, "Mom, you can go now!" I was shocked at this, but gathered what remained of my dignity and left. It was a realization to me that life keeps moving even though I may be perfectly content with our lives now.

This was reinforced the other night when I chauffeured her to a friend's house for a play date. I was again encouraged to leave and received another good report from her friend's mom, "She was a total angel and very polite." Yeah Sammy! You are growing into a wonderful young lady! Still it was strange to think, "Sam's at a friend's house now and she doesn't need/want us there".

I have listened to many people when they talk about how precious this phase of family life is and they are all correct. We are incredibly blessed to all have each other. There are so many things for us to be grateful for and I never dreamed I could be this lucky. Thank you to my family (both blood and not) because you are my inspiration!