What a difference one day makes
“Tomorrow I’ll be five years old”, Darling Angel declared as she went to bed the night before her birthday. She woke up the following morning a different person, now a really big girl – a 5 year old.
She gulped down her customary cup of hot milk (that hasn’t changed), but instead of crawling back into bed until I nudge her out, she got up, headed to the bathroom and picked up her toothbrush.
“Wow!”, I was wowed. “You didn’t wait for mommy to ask you to go to the bathroom”.
“I’m 5 years old. 5 years old can brush their teeth by themselves.”
“Wow!”, I continued, but convinced her that mommies can still help 5 year olds to do some of the brushing. (Should I just have let her?)
Then she was out of her clothes, waiting for me to turn on the shower. Without any prompting.
“Wow!” Usually, she whines about being tired while I try to separate her from her clothes.
“5 year olds can just take off their clothes by themselves.”
When she got out of the shower, she dressed herself while I got Baby Brother ready. Then I saw her. Darling Angel had put on not only the clothes that I laid out, but she had gotten her coat, gloves and hat. She had put on both shoes. She was holding on to her backpack. “Wow!” I was amazed. “Mommy, you’re the one making us late today”, she said to me looking at me like she had done nothing out of the ordinary. When I commented on the great job she was doing, she told me nonchanlantly, “five year olds can get ready by themselves”.
We got to her school, and unlike the day before, she was able to hold the door open for me. “Five year olds are stronger than four year olds”, she told me.
A few days earlier, we were at a birthday party. Someone asked me how old Darling Angel was. “She’ll be 5 in a few days”, I said. The lady replied, “Then she’s 5. Short story”. I felt almost silly. Not quite, just almost. “Yes she’s 5″, I agreed. But now I disagree. Those few days do matter. The day before she turned 5, she had 4 year old abilities. Now she’s 5. What a difference one day makes!
I had written in my last post how I expect 2009 to be easier than this year as my children get older and start to do more things for themselves. Well, it’s not New Year yet and it’s already happening! I can only hope that her enthusiasm for age 5 lasts into age 6 when she steps up the game even more. And to help, I will continue providing many wows of wonder and let her know what a great job she is doing.
