“Don’t ever grow up!” How often I said those loaded words while hugging my kids tightly. Don’t we moms adore our children’s humor, innocence and sweet loving hearts? There is a part of me that wants them to stay children forever. But as I work in my kitchen, I hear that same cartoon and its monotonous music in the background. I’ve been listening to it year upon year as my oldest son loudly sings and dances to the melody. Unlike the rest of us, he rarely tires of the recurring theme and remains just as delighted as he was in his childhood. With his moderate developmental delays, he is “growing up” so very slowly.
On my final nerve, I finally comprehend; I want my children to grow up, to reach maturity in their mind,and in their social and emotional abilities. This is love. No longer gripping them with a longing for their forever childhood, my Mama’s heart now whispers, “Keep Growing Up, my love”.