Today was mine and the kids first day of summer. We went for a long walk, did a little shopping for a birthday party Katie was attending, and enjoyed living at a leisurely pace. While Katie was at the party, Chip and I went to Borders to let him spend his gift cards. We've been carrying them around since November, and just haven't had the time to drive to Borders, much less shop there. Chip loves to read, and he is very good at it, but I still wasn't prepared for what happened when we got there.
Chip went straight to the Independent Readers section and began to hungrily pick up books and read the back covers. The last time we were at Borders he was looking at the Stage 3 Beginner Reader books. The books he was drawn to today were several hundred pages long and had complex plots and vocabulary. I am actually thinking of reading one of them when he finishes. We had enough in gift cards for him to pick 3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (volume 1), The Last Airbender, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice were the three he chose. It was wild that I wasn't even necessary at the bookstore. My only role was to get him there--well, I did steer him away from a book that had the words "Sir Fartsalot" in the title, but my involvement was minimal.
It just felt like he had crossed over into a new stage of adolescence. I am thrilled that he is growing up and that his imagination is blossoming, but it is bittersweet. I'm sure it will feel like only a few minutes pass before he writes his first essay, takes his drivers test, and graduates from high school.
Blessing #38, June 4, 2010
Sometimes as a parent I have these odd moments where I meet my children again for the first time. I realize that sentence doesn't make sense, but it's the only way I know to state what happens during a moment like the one we had today. What a blessing that each time my children have crossed into a new stage, I have only been sad for a second. The new child-the one graduated to a new stage-is even more exciting, amazing, and complicated than before.
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