It happened the other night.
I knew it would, as sure as the sun rises and sets...but that doesn't mean that I was any more prepared for it.
My baby...not just any baby, but the baby I prayed for for years before he was conceived, well, he shunned me.
Shunned.
I should have been more prepared for it. I mean, he is the 3rd of mine to go through this...and like his brothers before him, I know in my head that this is only temporary.
But still.
It caught me off guard.
I saw it unfold as if in slow motion, too. The middle school band was performing with all the high schoolers and he was surrounded by friends. I watched my 13 year old laughing and joking and having such a fun time and then talking with the cute little blond girl and her friend and I should have known.
But I forgot.
"Brian! Brian!" I called out, trying to get his attention.
And then it happened. The slight nod of his head, the unspoken universal signal that says, 'PLEASE don't talk to me in public!'
I know that it is only temporary before he swings back around, like his brothers before him.
Maybe it was only a one time thing?
Or maybe it is the beginning of that separation that has to take place in order for a boy to begin to grow into a man...the beginning of the time when he feels the need to not tell me everything that is going on.
But then, as sure as the sun rises and sets, he climbed into the car and asked for ice cream...which I, as sure as the sun rises and sets, said yes to. Because one thing I've learned from his brothers before him is that those stolen little moments in the car, those detours through the drive-thru, are some of the sweetest moments we can have.
And so we enter a new season...not a bad season, but a different season.
A growing up season.
My head is ready. My heart is not.
ooh mercy I am NOT ready for that. But I know you are right, I know it is coming---FAST. C is going to his first competition this weekend--you know, on his own, with just the other kids and the teachers, and no me or dad. My baby is a baby no more. :(
ReplyDeleteWhere do the years go, when the eldest, the second, then the youngest 'fly off'? (literally, in my case)The good news is, sometimes they return for a 'season'- but its never the same. Asi es la vida!
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