Hey,
So you’re not gonna believe this but Older Miss (OM) went to the corner shop all by herself today and my heart was in my mouth the whole time. I mean she’s basically 10 years old (give or take a few weeks) so I have to start letting go, right? She’ll be going to secondary school next year by herself! So why was letting her go to the shop on her own such a big deal? I did it – and I can bet my Mum didn’t sit at the window watching me walk there and back like I did with OM.
So how did this all come about, you ask? Pancakes. Yes, they were promised but I didn’t count on Mr E eating all the eggs… Cue downcast faces and “but you said..!” all whilst the boy commando crawled around the living room leaving a trail of drool to chart his path. I called Mr E.
“Are you happy for OM to go to the shop on her own?”
“Er, no. Why?”
Explanation about pancake day, pancakes promised, got home late, can’t leave them alone with the dribbler etc. etc.
“Hmmm… I’m not ready for that. I thought I’d be there when she made that first trip so I could follow her.”
I laughed.
“I’m serious.”
“Oh.”
Silence.
“Look, we need to give her more responsibility. And I’ll be watching the whole time!”
“Hmmm… Okay then.” Said in an ‘on your head be it’ kind of way.
I wrote that back in 2017. Of course, she survived and so did I but there have been so many moments like that where I’ve had to let go just a little bit more. Since then, OM has not only navigated going to the corner shop by herself (I really did watch her out of the window the whole time!) but has also been on the Year 7 trip to Paris for three nights, gone out with friends without an adult (!) and, more recently, spent a week in Spain on another school trip. It’s crazy how she constantly begged me for ‘more responsibility’ but now the very idea of going to the shop for me brings moans in response. She’s now in her final year of school and I’m equally shocked, amazed and grateful for the young woman she is growing into.
The funny thing about that conversation with Mr E is we had it again about LM last year. And in a few short years we’ll probably talk it all through again about Bubs (who is six years old now, so I probably need a new name for him…). LM started off pleading to be allowed to go to the shop; begging to walk to her dance class alone. Well, that lasted all of five minutes. Once she asked, ‘Why can’t you go?’ (Yes, the sass is real) My response was simple: ‘Because I have you’. I smiled at her sweetly, handed her the money and sent her on her way.
Take care x
You're not gonna believe this... 