milestones – A Mama's Blog

Childhood is full of milestones: first smile, first laugh, crawling, first word, walking, and the list goes on. Sometimes it seems with a baby, new milestones are reached every day and are noted. Now that my kids are getting older, these events seem fewer and far between. Or maybe as parents, we just grow accustomed to our kids doing new things, so not everything they do draws the attention like it did when they were babies.

Recently, Ryan had two milestones that made me stop and take notice. The first one was last week, on the day I pick him up from school. The class was lined up outside, like they always do, and his teacher, Mrs. G., excuses the kids to go with their parents. When she called Ryan’s name, he went and gave her a big hug. Then he walked over to me, and I started to hug him, like I always do, and he pushed me away. Then he said, “Not at school, Mom.”

I was a little puzzled since he had just hugged Mrs. G. I guess it is okay to hug your teacher, but not your mom. As we walked to the car, I asked him if he was too big now to hug me. He kind of avoided the question, until we were in the car, and then said, “I still want to hug you, but not in front of people, Mom.” I joked with him and told him he was too cool now to hug me, and I understood.

But wow. That happened fast.

The second event started last week. We were at Costco getting the tires rotated, and Ryan told me he had to use the restroom. I started to take him, and then asked him if he was okay going to the men’s room. He told me yes, he could read, and he knows which one is the men’s room. I didn’t want to follow him too closely, but I watched him from afar, and he went into the men’s room, and came out a few minutes later. He told me he washed his hands, and he added, “I am a man now, because I use the men’s room.”

I told him he wasn’t quite a man yet, but he was on his way, and he was big enough to go to the restroom by himself when we are out- he just has to tell me. So today we were out, and he told me he was going to go use the men’s room.

It seems funny but also a bit sad at the same time. As a mother, seeing your children become a little less dependent on you, it reminds you of how helpless they once were, but also how incredibly far they have come. It’s a part of life. It doesn’t mean though at times, it isn’t bittersweet.

It makes me cherish the time I have with Cole, who can’t hug me enough, and doesn’t want to use the men’s room by himself-yet.

Ryan graduated from pre-school today, and it was a big milestone for him. He has been excited about graduation all week.

His school had four classes with graduating kids. This was my first time at a school performance, and it was such a treat. Each class got to sing a song with props and costumes. It was like a little comedy show. One girl was so happy to have spotted her family from the stage, she spent the entire time on the stage with the biggest smile on her face, waving as hard as she could to her family.

During one of the performances, each child in that class, got to go up to the microphone and sing what animal they were dressed as. They were all so quiet, and would barely whisper into the microphone- but not the boy who was the lion. He got up to the microphone and roared- not once but a few times.

After the kids had received their dipolmas (yes, they handed out diplomas to all the kids), two boys were singing a song, “Kindergarten, Here We Come.” It was supposed to be a duet, but one of the boys must have watched American Idol last night, because it was all about him. He grabbed the microphone stand in his hand, away from the other boy, and sang as loud as we could, “Kindergarten, here we come,” over and over. He had a great voice too. Finally, the teacher asked him to let the other boy sing, and he had the saddest look on his face, as he handed the microphone stand back to the other boy.

The funniest thing that happened, in my opinion, was after the third class walked across the stage, an hour had already passed. Cole was being so good, but he was getting tired, and he had been promised cake, afterwards. He heard the teacher say the class had graduated. Everyone clapped, and the gym grew quiet as we were waiting for the last class. That moment Cole announced, loudly, “Okay, it’s over. Where is the cake?” So many people around us laughed and it was just precious.

As I watched my little boy, who isn’t so little anymore, sing with his class and walk across the stage for his diploma, my eyes filled with tears. This isn’t the same little guy I was just holding as a baby is it? Wasn’t he just learning how to walk, and when did he grow up so fast, to be walking across a big stage all by himself for his diploma he could wave?

As Ryan’s picture showed up in a slide show, I realized this was my baby, and he always will be my baby. Ryan doesn’t need me the same way as he did when he was a baby, but he needs me in different ways now.

As they played an incredibly sad country song to go along with the slide show, when he spotted me from the stage, and smiled at me, I knew that even though we have reached this milestone in Ryan’s life, they are endless. There will also be another milestone to look forward too, and I am so lucky to be able to share these moments with my now kindergartner.

Congratulations on your first school graduation, Ryan. I am so proud of you, and I love you.

P.S. I found out the song they played is called Universe from Mark Wills, if you want to listen to a sad country song. 🙂 Who doesn’t love that?

Now for the pictures:

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