My Star of the Week

Athena is the class Star of the Week this week. She had to color a cut out of herself, supply pictures of her family and tell a little bit about herself.

"My name is Athena. I am 5 years old. My favorite color is pink. My favorite book is Pinkalicious. I love to play with puzzles. My favorite food is mac n' cheese. I want to be an artist when I grow up. I like to play with Zoe and John Patrick. I like horses and tigers. I like to snuggle with my Momma and play tigers with my Daddy."

I wish these words could capture her exactly as she is now and preserve her five year old self forever, but they can't. She is bound and determined to grow up faster than I would like her too and conquering new feats of independence everyday. Inch by inch she is breaking away and doesn't need me for the many little things like getting out of her booster seat or opening the car door.

Now, she gets her own snacks and water, brushes her teeth and chooses her outfits. She's working on mastering the remote control and I stand by in wide eyed amazement as she morphs into a little kid.

She definitely has her own deep thoughts and perspective.

It's bittersweet as I am both happy and sad that she needs my help less and less (frankly having one less kid to constantly buckle and unbuckle in the car is a huge bonus). But when I look at her face I see only traces of the sweet baby she once was and more and more of the big girl she's hellbent on becoming.

It's an adjustment that I'll have to make, I suppose. Eternal childhood doesn't exist for anyone. And if you're too busy sulking that your little ones are no longer "little" won't you miss the fact that they are becoming kids? Actual kids with personality, charm, excitement, independence and potential?

And how cool is that?