Kids Don’t Grow Up Fast – They Just Grow Up

Almost every parent has used the phrase “they grow up so fast!”

I don’t think that’s true.

You aren’t growing up fast. I think you are growing up just right. But here is the sad part:

I’ll miss the little you.

I once knew a five pound baby girl who loved to be held and relied on me for absolutely everything. She was my world. I would rock her to sleep, sing her lullabies and wake up to the slightest sound. She needed me….desperately. I loved her…even though we had just met. But I’ll never get to hold her again.

She grew up.

I once knew a two year old who would look to me for help when she fell down. My kisses were magic and could heal anything. She would sit on the floor and look at flashcards for hours. Everything was brand new to her and I was her teacher. She had this fresh new mind that was open to everything that I would say. But I’ll never get to teach that brand new mind again.

She grew up.

I once knew a five year old who was a little bit nervous on her first day of school and needed me to hold her hand and hug her goodbye. She didn’t know what school was. She didn’t know how to read or write. Some of the most fundamental parts of her life were still unknown. I held her hand as she went to her first day of school. She was about to begin a lifetime of learning. But I can’t take her to her first day of school again.

She grew up.

I don’t think kids grow up fast. I think they transform, just like butterflies. They are handed to us as larva or caterpillars and we give them the tools and the time to evolve. It’s not a quick process. It’s gradual. The confusing part is that the after looks so much different than the before.

But is it?

The little personality stays. The shine in the eyes stays. But the small needy person goes away. The little body is shed away like a cocoon.

She grows wings….and she flies away.

I want you to grow wings. I want you to fly away.

But it will hurt.

I want you to grow wings. I want you to fly away. But it will hurt.

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Every day, I teach you things so that you will be successful when you take flight. But I still won’t be ready when it’s time to take off.

I want you to be a butterfly.

So, no…I don’t think kids grow up fast, but I wish I could go back and visit that little girl every now and then. I want to hear her laugh. I want to kiss her boo-boos. I want to carry her in my arms just one more time.

But the caterpillar is no more. She learned how to fly.