For those of you who have kids, did you ever have a moment where you looked at them and thought, I can't believe that kid is mine. I'm not talking about when the say something embarrassing or when you've had to carry them from a store in a football hold because they are throwing a fit. I'm talking about when all of a sudden they become a real little person! I mean a little human with their own personality, their own mannerisms, thoughts, feelings and perspective about the world. When did that happen? None of the baby books prepare you for that moment- the indefinite moment when your control begins to slip away and you begin to prepare them and yourself for the journey ahead.
It happened so innocently... Coleman and I were playing basketball in the backyard. We were using a tiny basketball and a homemade hoop out of a basket hanging off a tree branch and were having a blast. Every time someone made a shot, we were doing the YMCA-thing with that person's name or word. Coleman's favorite was doing TEAMWORK. Hilarious!
I was passing him the ball when it happened. I looked at this tall, lanky kid and said- oh my gosh- I am the mother of that child. What happened to my baby? This is a KID. A real kid who is having fun with his mom. It was such a weird feeling, such a humbling realization. Then it dawned on me- I have TWO KIDS. I know, I carried these kids in my belly for 9 months, you think this thought would have occurred earlier, say when Coleman started school. I had also asked Carter how was his day and he replied with a whole paragraph of information- I was able to pick out words here and was able to make sense of what he was saying. He's not only talking... he's conversing!
So that's it- my babies are KIDS and it happened overnight. People warned you that it will happen and it's true.
We had made some tub paints... some liquid dish soap and a little bit of cornstarch. Needless to say there was LOTS of bubbles in our tub and two squeaky clean boys!
