Growing up

Violet is growing up. Fast. She is sitting up, eating cereal, saying "Dada" like a champ, waving, and army crawling her way to just about anything she wants.

I don't know why I am always surprised by how quickly my babies change and grow. But I am. It feels like I brought her home from the hospital weeks ago, but nine months have gone by. I love that they grow up. It's weird, I know. All the other moms I know lament the ending of the baby stage. They don't want them to grow up. To change. To become self sufficient. To leave someday.

I do. It's not that I don't love them, or want them to leave right now, but I do want them to be able to leave me someday. I want things for them. Love, marriage, children. I know that they will have to be kicked in the teeth a few times on this journey, and I'll hate watching it. I'll hurt for them, cry with them, tell them it is going to be okay. And, I'll assure them that this world of suffering and pain isn't their true home, that heaven is.  

It seems like this is my most important job as a parent. To prepare them for their lives. To prepare them to leave someday. To prepare them to teach their own children the faith. To prepare them to do so in a world that is becoming more and more hostile to anyone that doesn't buy into to the any thing goes worldview.