This is one of my favourite songs...EVER. It is (obviously) about fathers and daughters, but I think that the lyrics so beautifully describe the relationship between any parent and child. Since I have been blessed with 2 crazy boys, and will never have a girl, I am claiming it as my own.
I have had the pleasure of watching my Lucas shine and grow for 5 years...That boy who made me a Mom turns 5 today.
I have written a couple of mushy posts about Lucas in the past year. So what can I say about him that I didn't already say here, or here. I mean, you already know that I sort of love that kid, and that I think he is sort of awesome. Well, what I can tell you is that 5 seems like a big birthday. Five seems to mark the real end of babyness, and little kidness, it seems to mark the passage into being a big kid. As I sit here feeling all sorts of feeling about that, I am struck by how very proud I am of who he is.
Lucas has done so many things this year that make me glow with pride. My pensive little observer has shown me how brave he can be. I can see in his eyes, and is body language when something makes him nervous, when he is not quite sure. But that big boy takes a big breath, and dives in. It's seemingly small things; trying karate, soccer, and basketball, riding a scary ride at Disney, or battling Darth Vader at Jedi Training. He is becoming confident, he is sure of himself, he is brave.
In the summer I had the boys at the splash pad. Lucas spied a couple of boys playing with similar squirt guns to the one he was toting around. I suggested that he see if they wanted to play. He bravely headed over and asked in his sweet Lucas way if they wanted to play with him. They said no, and took off, his face crumpled, his shoulders slumped, and I was grateful that I had my sunglasses on. He came back over, holding back tears while he told me they didn't want to play with him. Just at that moment, when the tears were about to tumble out he spotted another potential squirt gun toting playmate. He looked at me hopefully, and said "maybe that kid would play with me." I encouraged him to go and find out. He took that big breath and off he went. He played for two hours with that little boy, gathering more and more kids throughout the morning. He has learned to make friends on his own, he knows he has worth. When I sent him off to school, one of my biggest hopes was that he would find a friend. He has found friends, kids who come running when I drop him off in the morning, kids who he identifies with, who he enjoys being with. He is making good choices in the people he surrounds himself with.
In his class each SK child has a JK partner who they line up with. The parents of Lucas' partner approached me a few weeks into school to thank me. They said that Lucas has been such a help to their daughter, and that they were truly appreciative of him. He holds her hand and makes sure she has her backpack, he helps her hang up her things, and with her coat, he helps her get her lunch set up. I could have just burst I was so proud of him when I heard this. He makes a difference in the lives of others.
Just this week Lucas came home from school and told me that one of his closest friends told him, "you can't play with M, because she's a girl." My first thought when he relayed this story..."Oh boy, here we go." Not quite sure where the conversation was headed, I asked him "what did you do? "He very matter of factly informed me, "I wanted to play with M so I went and played with her anyway, she's my friend." He stands up for himself, and for what he knows is right.
My baby is growing up, he doesn't need me quite the way he used to. While I hold the memories of that tiny baby close to my heart I am so very proud of the big boy he has become. He is becoming the kind of person that I hoped he would.
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