She jumps in puddles, pigtails flying, knees bent, smile a mile wide.
“Mommy, jump with me!”, she says. And I oblige. I jump along with her, conscious that I may look silly seeing as I am a grown adult for whom puddle-jumping does not tend to hold the same excitement that it does for the younger set.
But I do it, and throw self-consciousness to the wind.
We hold hands and make a run for the next puddle. Splash! The rain can’t stop my girl from giggling oh so sweetly. “Mommy that was a big puddle!”
I watch her and marvel.
She is her own superhero, her own persona, with her initial emblazoned in an imaginary fashion on her chest. She is sugar and spice with a healthy dose of recklessness thrown in for good measure.
“Mommy, look! More puddles!”
We jump and our boots bear the brunt of our energy.
I do not want this time to end, this precious time with my beautiful girl. Because someday, she won’t want to jump in puddles. Someday she will be a teenager looking disdainfully at my retelling of our puddle-jumping days. “Mommy” will become “Mom”, and she will bypass the puddles for fear of getting wet.
I know that someday she will look fondly back at our times of splashes and giggles. And she will smile.
But now… now we will find more puddles to jump in.
Because right now, we have all the time in the world.
Ah! This is making me weepy. We just held a surprise birthday party for our 21-year-old, and for the occasion, we put together a video/photo keepsake of her life so far. It was wonderful to revisit those days of innocence. Find the next puddle!
Aw, what a great idea you did for your daughter’s 21st birthday! I bet she loved it 🙂
Yup, we will definitely find more puddles!!!
awe! I imagine one of the toughest things about being a parent is when they get to that age where they don’t “need” you as much. I guess savor every moment as best you can!
Yup, I am definitely savoring every moment; it just goes by so fast!
I love her Hello Kitty boots! Adorable! I’m not always very good about the enjoying the moment, but I imagine when you have kids, you are constantly reminded how precious each moment is. And yes, we do go through that phase where Mom and Dad are very uncool to later really value that time together.
Oh my gosh, I love her Hello Kitty boots too! I was bummed when we bought them and they didn’t carry adult sizes. I mean hello??? If I am going to wear rain boots, I want to be as fashionable as possible 😉
Yes, the time does go fast when you have kiddos, way too fast.
I think my daughter would love your daughter like a little sister. They’re both so adventurous and make their moms do things maybe they wouldn’t ordinarily do.
It is fun sometimes to just stop and jump in a puddle. Those are the moments you’ll both remember.
I think our daughters would get along famously! BFF’s for sure 🙂
Yes, it really is nice to enjoy these small moments because these kids, I am telling you, they grow up so fast!