Changes

Something strange has been happening around here lately.  The girls want to play by themselves.  It's relatively new.  Mister is not into it, and without them to play with, he follows me around a lot.  It drives me nuts sometimes, but I also appreciate it.  I love him, and I'm going to miss when he doesn't want to spend so much time with me anymore.  I'm going to miss when, no matter how many empty seats are in the room, he has to sit on top of me to read his book.

On top of them entertaining themselves more often, the girls are both old enough to play on the basketball team at school this year.  Since we live a full 30 minute drive from the school, and I'm not really keen on paying for daycare if I don't have to, that means an hour and a half for Mister and I to spend together at the school while his sisters have practice 4 days a week.

After he finished his homework, there was only one thing he wanted to do.  It's pretty much the only thing he ever wants to do, if he has access to a ball and a wall.

Kick the ball against the wall- over and over and over again.  When I look at these pictures of him mid-kick, I can't believe he doesn't fall over every time.  He kicks it high up there, too.

The flip side of this extra time spent with Mister is less time with either of the girls.  I know it's a natural part of growing up.  In fact, we've been looking forward to it.  For the last couple of years it's been exhausting having all three of them following us around from room to room, competing for attention, every waking hour of EVERY day.  

We were told, and so we told ourselves, it was part of the attachment process.  It helped them learn to trust us, and develop a sense of security.  We told ourselves it wouldn't last forever, but I don't think I believed it.  Now everything's changing so fast, and it's all fabulously "typical," but it's also kind of sad. We only just got them, (I say about these real individual people that I totally know are individuals and not mine), and now they're growing away from us.  

It's really way too early for me to worry about this stuff.  They're totally still here and dependent and I've got years before they really pull away- years before they can do horribly scary things like drive.  Still- this is the beginning.  I can just tell.  And I don't want to wait until they're teenagers to argue with them about spending time with me.  I'd rather put the effort in now, and hope they come back to me on their own when they're older.

I'm not going to smother them in planned activities.  I'm grateful for quieter evenings around here and less interruptions when I'm in the bathroom.  I'm going to make more of an effort with them, though.  If they don't follow me around anymore, I guess I'll have to seek them out in their room more often.  I just want to make sure our relationship is solid, so as they gain more independence, they have a solid foundation to fall back on.

**This has been Day 14 of 31 Days of Enjoying My Kid.