Glimpses

Last week, my mom took Marko to her house for an overnight visit. I cut my foot badly enough to need a few stitches and was having a little trouble walking, and therefore keeping up with a busy two year old. That night, M and I had dinner at home with Laurel. Nobody screamed, we talked about our days in fully formed sentences, and at the end of the meal, there was no food on the floor.

Every so often I get a glimpse of what it will be like once our family is passed the young children phase. When they are little, so much of the day feels like treading water. You cannot see where you are headed, just stay afloat as best you can.

On Sunday we went for a bike ride, with Laurel riding solo for the first time on the trail. Bike riding has turned out to be an unexpectedly sentimental experience for me to witness. It feels like such a transitional milestone. When I think of kids riding bikes I remember my own experience as a kid, how it expanded my range out our backyard. I now have this very vivid image in my mind of the back of Laurel's head. As if from this point on, she will be moving ever-further away from me.

Of course, once we saw how awesome she was doing, we immediately began scheming about overnight trips on the GAP this summer.