My ‘baby’ is four so is he still my baby?

YES but..

Wait a minute, what the heck happened?  One minute I was nursing my sweet little forth child, a tiny little boy, with beautiful eyes and a bright little smile….and then I put him down in his crib and woke up this morning and realized he just turned FOUR!!  You can’t really fake it anymore at four,  I have to accept reality, my baby days are over.  This brings a deep sadness to my soul.  I enjoyed (almost) every minute of them when they were a baby.  Yes, we had problems and ups and downs but not too many and never too terrible ( of course the passage a time, smoothes the rough edges, lessens the pain) but really, I loved every minute.  They all slept well ( except a few months there with Nate) and ate well (except Jenny when she was first born) and overall they were easy kids, no colic, not too demanding, and with the benefit of having 2 parents with similar parenting philosophies, we all have been happy healthy and content.

But NOW I HAVE JUST REALIZED…  my baby days are gone. Poof, vanishing in a moment and gone forever.  I will (hopefully) have grandchildren someday but never again will I have a baby.  So much of parenting is about letting go and losing.  I guess that is, in some way, a good definition of parenting, as it is the whole goal.  Our kids grow up and leave us; learn to be self sufficient ( hopefully) and get a job; get married and have their own family.  Moving on, to realize at some long and distant time in the future how very very special it is to be a parent and how very very thankful we are to our parents for all they have done for us, and how their kids will go on to do the same………

I better go, I am going to go upstairs to see my mother, she is visiting right now, and tell her I love her, after all, I am still her baby….