Independence-101

I blog a lot about independence and Weeble’s steps into toddler-hood, boy-hood and beyond. It’s mostly due to the fact that we’re there; we’re ridding that line of all on my own and yet still the baby. He chooses walking on his own, putting on his own shoes, carrying his own things. His favorite sentence has to be “I do it!” he uses his name now all the time “Greyson’s shoes, Greyson’s hat, Greyson’s chair” although he says “Gaysin”, he’ll tell you his name and that he lives in “Pam Toast”. And then, in the midst of “I do it” and “No, No, Mommy” he’ll have a moment, a moment of not so much a toddler, of checking in to make sure that mom is there, mere steps behind, just in case he needs me. He has his little ways of testing, to see if he really is out there on his own, forging ahead and blazing his own trail all by himself, or if maybe just maybe, moms there, ready to catch him if he falls, at the ready with anything he might need, be it snack, a sip, a cuddle or a Band-Aid. It’s a fun time and a hard time for mom and baby alike I’m sure, that teeter totter of yes and no and sometimes not really sure if either will work. Every day I see him take these giant steps forward, and occasionally a baby step back, in the end he just gets further and further away. Ultimately it’s what every parent wants, a child who’s secure, independent but knows that mom and dad are right there if ever he needs them, it’s every parent’s goal, dream and reality, and yet right now in the moment it’s sad. It’s wonderful, but it’s sad.

I can’t help but think if it’s like this at 2, what am I going to do at 15??

(Blazing his own trail, making his own path...)

(Are you coming Mom?)