Thursday, September 13, 2012

I blinked

When Wesley left to go back to school in August she was still my little girl. She spent the summer basically in seclusion, writing and we spent every day together. She has been crewing on sets every weekend so we haven't seen much of her since she went back. She sent me this photo the other day from a set she was working on, and I all of a sudden realized this was not my little girl any longer. She is a beautiful young woman now and needs to be treated accordingly. That's a hard adjustment. I was class mom, field trip mom, helped coach her softball team, helped her teachers grade papers, packed lunch every day since the first day of pre school, worked on homework, read to her, and all those many many things that moms do. But now, I listen when she calls home and I try to think of the right words to say, give the right advise to someone that is experiencing adult life now, and pray for her safety as she drives around a town that has awful roads, dangerous neighborhoods, and I watch as she grows into this other person that is my grown up girl. I just blinked and it happened.....
This past weekend I decided her room had to be painted. It was a saffron orange and I have been trying to neutralize the colors in our house, going to a white and gray palette. I put everything back in it's place, then I got this photo and went back to her room and boxed up all the trophies, all the stuffed animals, all the posters on the walls. Her room is now a peaceful "cottage linen" and a very zen space, appropriate for the adult she is way too quickly becoming.
Transitions are hard, but they are necessary for growth and enrichment of our lives. I'm excited for this new journey I see my child on and I feel like I am beginning a new journey as well. More time for finding what I want to do with that space that was filled with lunches and homework and class projects. I'm so glad clay has been there to fill some of the empty space she has left. There are so many new journeys ahead! Those of you with younger kids at home, don't blink, I'm telling you.....
I'm heading down to unload the kiln, I'll be back. Let's hope the houses didn't all kill themselves, they are meant for people so there is great potential that they did something evil :)

11 comments:

Dennis Allen said...

Next time you blink she'll be 30.Happened to us.

smartcat said...

I think it's particularly hard with only children. P. used to warn me continually to treat Proge as an adult.

Case in point we were up in Maine and a neighbor began scolding P. for smoking....this when he was 53!

I don't thing Proge and I could be living together successfully if he had not gone away to school and then out to S.F. where I visited and saw him functioning as....an adult!

cookingwithgas said...

it is a whole new chapter and really it is not so bad.
You will find your way with it.

Lori Buff said...

Then you'll blink again and she'll be taking care of you and you'll have another reason for raising this child to be a wonderful and caring adult.

Hollis Engley said...

Funny how that happens, isn't it? But if you do your job right, it does happen. And I think you two have clearly done your job right.

Susan Wells said...

Can I blink for a 25 year old? JUST KIDDING!!!

Tracey Broome said...

They grow up so fast, don't they? It's such a cliche, but so true. Susan let's both blink for that! Just think we were both married at 25, ha!

Laura Farrow said...

Wes is so beautiful inside and out! Good job Mama! xo

Tracey Broome said...

thanks Laura, there were lots of folks like you out there helping us along :)
xo

Judi Tavill said...

Right in the thick of teenage boy hell with a tween right behind... Right now my husband and I just need to blink a little to survive..,

Tracey Broome said...

Judi, it never ends, but it's all fun!