forty five

When we surprised the girls with an evening trip to the water park I was prepared for their excitement. I was prepared for a late night and potentially grumpy kids. I was prepared to leave early should the necessity arise.

What I wasn’t prepared for was how grown up and independent and capable and brave the girls were.

Catherine measured in just above the minimum height for the full scale, three story water slides. She was unsure about trying them, but eventually tried on a tandem raft with me. Just before we left, after several tandem runs, she decided to try on her own. She went first while I waited my turn up top. It was a breath-stopping couple of minutes and this Mama was relieved to see the lifeguard’s thumbs up when she came shooting out the bottom end of the tube!

Esme started the evening on the tiny water slides in the kiddie pool. She very bravely went down the biggest and the fastest with no hesitation at all. When I realized that the medium sized slides didn’t have a height minimum I suggested she try. A literal 35 minutes later she stopped for a break. She climbed two stories worth of stairs and slide down continuously for over half an hour! I could barely believe her stamina. All I did was stand at the bottom and watch.

I was unprepared for the bittersweetness of their growing up. Brave smiles and waves from the top of the stairs and huge smiles and shouts of “that was awesome!” remind me that they’re learning, they’re growing and they are inching their way toward becoming the women that they are destined to be. I am blessed to be part of their journey.