They're Becoming Someone Right in Front of Us
At some point, your kid starts having opinions you did not give them.
Strong ones.
About music.
Clothes.
Food.
Sports.
People.
And occasionally the completely incorrect belief that your taste is embarrassing.
Excuse me.
I taught you how to use a spoon.
Show some respect.
Then You Start Meeting Them
Not the baby version.
Not the toddler whose entire personality briefly revolved around construction equipment.
The person.
You hear them make a joke you didn't expect.
You watch them become good at something you know nothing about.
They develop interests you never introduced.
They tell you what they think about something.
And you realize:
Oh. You're becoming YOU.
Growing up isn't only losing the little versions of them.
It's getting introduced to the next ones.
Independence Is Rude Like That
We spend years teaching them to do things themselves.
Put on your shoes.
Get dressed.
Pour the drink.
Pack the backpack.
Speak up.
Try it yourself.
Then one day they do.
And we're standing there thinking:
Okay, but you could still need me a LITTLE.
That's the strange deal we make when we become parents.
Success means gradually making ourselves less necessary.
Not less important.
Just necessary in different ways.
Make Room for the New Version
Sometimes we keep parenting the child who existed six months ago.
We assume they still won't like something.
Still can't handle something.
Still need the same amount of help.
Still want what they used to want.
But kids change quickly.
Every once in a while, maybe we should ask again.
What do you think?
Want to try?
Do you want help or do you want to do it yourself?
What are you into lately?
Tell me about it.
There might be somebody new standing where the old assumption was.
We don't only get to raise our kids.
We get to keep meeting them.
That's the Good Part
Yes, the tiny voice changes.
The shoes get bigger.
The toys change.
They need us differently.
But there is so much waiting on the other side of every stage.
New conversations.
New jokes.
New adventures.
New pieces of them we haven't seen yet.
Parenting is this strange privilege of missing who they were
while being completely fascinated by who they're becoming. ❤️
