Now We Are Six
When I was one,
I had just begun.
When I was two,
I was nearly new.
When I was three,
I was hardly me.
When I was four,
I was not much more.
When I was five,
I was just alive.
But now I am six,
I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six
now and forever.
Sweetest Lucy--
It is so unbelievable to me, yet utterly inevitable as well, that you have turned six years old today. From before Day One, you were yearned for, prayed for, hoped for, and wanted. From Day One, you were a surprise and a mystery-- stunning us with your unexpected blonde hair and blue eyes, confounding us with your colic and infant frustrations. You've been easy on the eyes and challenging to our souls every step of the way, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I think you were a gift to me-- a puzzle to be slowly, lovingly puzzled over, maybe one day to be "solved". Your feelings run deep, and you've only just begun finding a way to tell us a little about them. You find your way to your own enlightenment through creativity-- through your artwork, through your pretend play and costumes, and through your quiet times alone with yourself. You have begun to find your way to friends and are learning how to engage socially, and it is a joy for me to see you thrive at school and out in the world without me.
But I confess I also miss you. I miss you being one of my constant sidekicks throughout the day. Miss you and Quinn as my daytime duo. I miss being able to give you more time and space to meander through life at your own pace in your own style. If I could, I'd give you a nearby woods and our meadow and I'd slow our days so we could all wander wildly a bit more, create music a bit more, make art a bit more. I ache for that, really... For all of us. But for now, I hope it's enough that I try to create space and time for some of it here at home, sometimes. That when you ask to "make", I almost always say yes. I hope you feel heard and supported. I hope you feel unconditionally loved.
Six means you're officially a real, big KID. Six is the gateway to the world, and from here on out, it just goes faster and faster, and you'll just get more and more amazing. I cannot wait to see it unfold.
But for today: stay six, enjoy the rare delight of another birthday, and know that so many of us are sending you magic and love and extra wishes.
All my love,
Mom
Happy BIRTHday to both of you, and to Joe too - it seems so near, and yet so far away. Six years was a little bit the tipping point for me, when the nearness started giving way to the farness (sniff!) and the big kid memories started building like snowballs rolling down mountains...Six year olds are so awesome in their own right (I mean, just look at her fabulous big sister self with baby sister on her lap like she's an old pro!) Anyhow, you spoke my feelings exactly with your thoughts about the woods and your girl - just this week sitting at a stop light I imagined a whole alternate universe staring a patch of daffodils under a magnolia tree, imagining that my girl and I could spend our days with notebooks and colored pencils rolled up and tucked into backpacks while we walked or rode bikes along the prairie path and drew every blooming flower we came across. And we'd call it 'school' and do it for weeks until all the flowers of spring were bloomed, and we'd bring books to read when we needed to take a break and we'd use our imagination every chance we got. And then the light turned green.... The good news is that you can take your imaginative child to kindergarten...but you can't take the deep reserves of emotion and imagination out of the child! The force is much too strong in that one ;) Happy 6 to Lucy!
ReplyDeleteHappy 6th Birthday Lucy! Thought I agree that 6 marks the transition from little to big, I cannot wait to see what new and imaginative things are in store for this new, bigger and better Lucy.
ReplyDelete