Blossoming Socialite

Big Bee's social life is now thriving with myriad parties thrown by her kindergarten and primary school pals - social functions that parents are not invited to, nor encouraged to attend :( She also has many exclusive playdates with her friends that parents are not allowed to be part of. 

With all her good friends in all manners of playdates and parties! 

Seeing her breeze into these parties and then picking her up thereafter left me feeling bittersweet that she now has this mysterious life with her friends that Mummy is not a part of. These gaping holes, these fissures in her life made me realise that parenthood is akin to a permanent job with temporary project management of our children. They are only fleeting gifts, precious as they may be. Soon, they will be independent and create building blocks of their own separate lives, whilst throwing a (hopefully) thick rope of connection to us old parents marooned in the boring wilderness. 

She would come back to us after the parties or playdates, giggling, with her mind full of the wonderful memories of friendship and camaraderie, sometimes not wanting to share too much of these activities with us. I also caught her hiding in some corner of the house, whispering to friends on the phone and scribbling little notes to friends furtively, hiding these messages of hurried writing. 

These are the early signs of gradual self-reliance. The signs that all of us parents are eagerly anticipating yet dreading with apprehensive trepidation. Signs that hint to us....what are the plans for ourselves - us as a longtime married couple, us as individuals - when the nest is empty? 

But for now, I still relish in seeing my darlings sub-consciously clasping my hand when sleeping next to me, yelling "Mummyyyyy!" at every inconsequential instance and clinging dutifully to us during every outing and holiday.