Riding a Bike

I have been lucky enough this school year, working part-time, to have Fridays off. It's been great to have one whole day a week to spend time with Lily. On a recent Friday morning I had Lily with me as I ran an errand. A woman in an office we visited asked me, "Is she school-aged?" I suppose she wondered what she was doing not in school? I quickly told her that, no, she was three. As soon as I said it, I realized how soon I would be saying that she is four. Lily will leave the world of three behind in just a few weeks and become a big four-year-old.

Lily, of course, is thrilled that her birthday is almost here and that she will no longer be three and a half, but four like many of her friends. But, I don't think I'm ready! It just can't be possible that she's almost four. She's growing up so fast! When she was born, my friends with older children warned me it would go by fast and were they ever right!

I got caught up in the hoping for each next stage to come along - what will her first words be?, when will she walk?, when will she sleep through the night? Now, it's things like - when will she read?, when will she want to write and draw? Amongst all the wondering what would happen next, time slipped away. Life has dealt our family some rotten things and I've spent my fair share of hoping for a better day tomorrow. But that day when I realized "four" was just around the corner I was reminded of a thought I've tried to remind myself of more and more these days - live fully in this day. I'll never again get to help Lily learn to write her name (wait til you see it-my favorite four letters written on paper) or watch her dance her heart out on stage as a three-year-old.

So, while time ticks on and we spend sunny days at the park working on that next milestone - riding a big-girl bike:

... I'm running alongside her wondering if she might just like to get back on the tricycle instead. She doesn't by the way. She is thrilled to be riding a bike in case you couldn't tell!

Every new stage with Lily just seems to get more fun than the last. At the same time Lily - don't grow up too fast. I'm too happy holding your hand on our evening walks, snuggling together and reading your favorite book, hearing that your favorite part of your day was swinging at the park.

Go ahead and turn four. Learn to ride that bike. Draw another picture of me with wild hair and no body. It's not as if I can stop you...

... just don't go too fast or get too far ahead of me!