Growing Up

This gift of loving and raising children stirs up conflicting emotions, more than I ever counted on.  What else would I want for these young ones than to grow up to enjoy God and His world?  But there's that pull between what's coming next and what you're leaving behind.   That growing and changing sometimes feels like more than my heart can bear.
I know you can't always have a little one to hold but oh it goes so fast.
Lucy is putting two words together.  Sometimes a little slurred but those words are there.
"My papa."
"Where's Daddy?"
"Me, too."  (parroted from her siblings)
She may be 18 months now but she's still my baby girl.
Walking her own way one minute and raising those little arms to be held the next.
Playing with her big brothers and sister then looking for a shoulder to rest on.  And it doesn't have to be mine or Daddy's.  Depending on her mood, anyone will do.  I love to see Sammy trying so hard to care for his little sister.
Bending down to her level, "Woos, hey Woos, you want me, yah?  Yah?"
Sometimes she does, sometimes it's a loud, "No!"
I know there's so much ahead of her, and all of them, but for now, I like having all my young'ins around, to hold, to listen to, to laugh with.  Even when I want to pull my hair out.
It's just a little easier on my heart.