Slipping Through My Fingers....

My grandma always says that from the second you welcome a child into the world, you slowly begin letting go of them. I hate that. Let me just say it again. I HATE THAT. But I know it's true. A day I have been dreading finally occurred. Well, make that two days. My little boy is growing up. As I tuck him into bed each night, I always tell him that I am going to keep him forever, and part of me prays it were true. But the brutal reality is that he is not mine to keep and only guide and spoil with as much love and TLC as I can.

So, what happened? The first instance happened about two weeks ago. J has always had a thing for blonds. He loved Taylor Swift as a one year old and was sent into a daze whenever "Love Story" came on the radio. It progressed to Amanda Seyfried when Mama Mia came out (yeah, I'm a sucker for ABBA, not cool, but I will admit it and he watched it a few, I mean a LOT of times with me). He would stop random girls in the grocery store to ask them if they were his "Honey, honey" at the tender age of two. Not to mention my friend Rachael's daughter Ally. He told me Sadie was pretty and I was pretty. I asked if there were other girls he thought were pretty (yes, a cheap mother litmus test!). Guess who topped the list outside of the fam? Allie:).

Then came "Janey*". (I changed her name so her mama would still want to hang out with us! Haha!). She is a cutie. A tall, adorable, little blond who is wise beyond her years and gives Joshua just enough attention to keep him interested:). Smart. Janey* and Joshua were playing as her mom and I chatted when I witnessed him out of nowhere wrap his arms around her, looked into her eyes and said, "I love you". I think she thought he was insane and just said a nice, "Um, thanks. Can you let me go now?" But my heart broke. He had told his first girl besides his mama (or other family members) he loves them. (Insert sigh).

Then, on a beautiful day, Art and I rallied the troops to take a walk through the neighborhood and go play at the park. This is usually something that J FLIPS to hear is on the schedule. As we exited the house, a couple of his neighborhood buddies came over and asked him to play. When he asked if he could, I responded we were going to take a family walk to the park. What did I get back?? "Well, I'd rather just play with them." (Insert sigh again).

In a short matter of a week, my sweet boy had told another girl he loved her and picked his friends over me. I'm glad my hubby knows me well enough to boost up the TLC when these occurred because my heart broken a little. I mean a lot. "Slipping through my fingers all the time"....As stated in the wise words of ABBA.