Friday, September 23, 2011

Letting Go



When I was a kid, every year on my birthday my mom would make me promise that I wouldn't have another birthday for an entire year.  First I thought she was trying to be funny. Later, I thought she was nuts.  Now I get it.

I was growing up way too fast.

Those very thoughts were going through my mind as my just-yesterday-he-was-a-baby son and I walked up to his new school for the first day of kindergarten.  It seems like only moments since this little newborn was nestled into his sleep-deprived father's arms.  Today, we were starting school.

As we marched toward the covered play area to scan the class lists, I felt a little hand slip inside mine and give me a squeeze. As the cacophany of pre-pubescent voices grew louder, the little hand squeezed tighter. Eventually, we found his name on the list, stood in the appropriate line, and awaited his teacher to usher us into the class room.

Despite the cliche moment which was charged with such emotion, calmness prevailed.

Until it was time to let go.

As Connor's new teacher guided us to the classroom, the tears began to well up...in my eyes. As we reached the doorway to his latest life's adventure, that same little hand slipped out of mine, reached around my neck for a big hug, and then was gone.

As much as anything, parenthood is successive stages of letting go:  the independence that comes with first steps, the day you discover you are no longer needed to give pushes on the swings, the first day of school.

I'm convinced the best parents are the ones who can let go--who celebrate the moments of growth and independence as their child comes of age.

I'm just not so sure I fit into that category yet.

7 comments:

  1. Touching post, children grow up much too quickly!

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  3. My wife and I are about 6 months away from our first, but I can somewhat understand the part about growing up fast. Years ago, I was living day-to-day, and now it feels like I am living only Monday's. Great post, I will have a similar scenario to look forward to down the road.

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  4. You're about to discover that the first thing you let go of is the notion of a good night's sleep!

    Congratulations, Jeff! As the army commercials used to say, "It's the toughest job you'll ever love."

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  5. Thanks Cameron, we are looking forward to it!

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  6. This post is awesome. I have been reading up a lot of dad blogs, this is quite an awesome post. I came across another one which seems to promise a lot - guys is apparently in college hangover, but deeply analyzing -- anyway, is only a post old .. called http://beingpop.blogspot.com looks promising to me.

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  7. Cameron, I just found your blog and am really enjoying it. I especially liked your previous post about love but I wasn't able to comment on that post. I wanted to share a very short video I made about my journey to fatherhood that I thought you might like. Thanks for caring and sharing.
    http://youtu.be/COn0CLLeB-w

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