Moments Make Memories...

My baby girl has now been 5 years old for over a week.  Sometimes I catch myself trying to say something about my "4 year old," and then I remember she's not 4 anymore.  I know everyone says it as they get older, but seriously, time really does fly by.  The older you get, the quicker the days pass by.  As we were praying with Lucy before she went to bed tonight, I found myself just wanting to bottle the moment up of my cheek being pressed against hers while Daddy prayed over her, of her sweet giggles as I showered her with kisses, and her precious smile with all of her baby teeth present.  I know there will come a day where she doesn't want her momma snuggling so close next to her and showering her face with kisses and where her baby face grin will turn into a beautiful young lady smile.  I don't necessarily want time to stand still, because there's so many wonderful things to experience with each stage of life, but I do want to always stay in check that I'm not taking any of these moments for granted.  After all, these moments are what make memories, so what kind of memories do I want to create for her?

I remember hearing someone say that we have 9 whole months of carrying our children in our bellies close to us, but a lifetime of learning to let them go, and it seems that the older our children get, the harder it is to let go.  We see these milestones pop up all over the place, and one of them made their presence known this week in the drop off lane at school.  I really enjoy taking Lucy into the school building each day.  I open the car door for her and hold her sweet little hand as we walk into the building.  When we get into the cafeteria, I give her a big hug and kiss and tell her to have a good day and to eat a carrot (a family thing we say that means, "I love you.")  I usually visit a bit with her TA who is a good friend of mine, and then I head back home and fire up the keurig.  This morning was different though.  DH had to leave the house early to make a hospital visit, and he usually stays home with GP while I take Lucy to school and then he goes to work after I get back.  But since he wasn't home this morning, I had to load Gabriel up.  Lucy asked if she could walk in "all by myself" this morning, so I decided that would be OK since it would be kind of difficult to get GP out of the car for such a short period of time.  She was so excited!  I opened the door for her, gave her a hug and a kiss and told her to eat a carrot (I'm not ready to let go over the whole drop off SOE!) and then she excitedly ran off, her cheerleader skirt swinging back and forth while her pig tails bounced up and down.  I could tell she was so excited and felt like such a big girl to be all by herself...but what she didn't know is that her mommy didn't just drop her off and drive away.  No way!  I slowly drove the car forward as she walked forward so I could get a view of her making it into the building.  As I drove off, I sighed.  My baby girl is getting so big and so desires to experience that taste of independence.  It made me think about my relationship with my Heavenly Father, too.  Sometimes, I'm just like my little four five year old daughter, wanting to taste my independence and go at things alone.  But, even when I do try to go at it alone, my Jesus is always there watching over me, waiting for me to come back and realize it's always best to let Him lead the way.  I doubt my little Lucy is going to revert back to wanting her momma to walk her into the school building every day for the next twelve years (you know this momma sure is going to try tho!) but I do hope she realizes that I'm always willing to walk by her side and be there for her...and if she doesn't, I'll just have to drive slowly behind;-)