Letting Us Grow

Another feature in my post-Mothers Day reflection.

As I mentioned the other day, I regularly read the Mama PhD blog on InsideHigherEd.com.  All of the women have unique perspectives on motherhood in academia - something that I hope to know a bit about should I decide I want to do the having children thing.  Another recent post in the Math Geek Mom series caught my attention in the same way the article I shared earlier this week did.

This article talks about how children grow exponentially.  And of course, it makes me think about all the things I've done to my parents that probably made them realize the same thing.

Learning how to read at such a young age.

Dropping Mom's hand on the way to the bus stop on the first day of kindergarten, telling her "this was just something I needed to do on my own," and leaving her a block away to cry and wave from a far.

Starting a choir from scratch at our church for kids 3yo-6yo with a good friend* while in middle school.  And going on to direct it for years.  And now going back to watch those kids who sang for me back in the day graduate from high school and college (now I'm realizing how times moves exponentially!)

Learning to drive... in the Princess-mobile.

Venturing off to college in the big city of Minneapolis at a school I had chosen in 9th grade (for who knows what reason) where I didn't really know anyone.

Picking up everything and moving to Nashville to go back to school in a city where I really only knew one person.

Moving to Lexington for my current job.

Sometimes, I think it was just yesterday that I was that little girl playing dress up in the backyard (lets be real, if I could get away with it, I probably would have done that yesterday) and then I realize that I'm a real adult with real adult problems and real adult bills and real adult relationships.

Not all of my milestones were good ones.  There have been some really rocky roads in my 27 years.  Deaths of friends and children - people who were way to young to die.
Scary and dark moments in my life.  Scary and dark moments in my friends lives.
Years were we didn't get along.  Family problems.

I am so incredibly thankful that my parents didn't shelter me from those times.  They allowed me to figure things out, to feel, to think out loud, to interact with the real world. 

Thanks Mom & Dad.

Really.  Thank you.