I Didn't Know I Could Do That!

Midwest winters are long. When you have little kids, Midwest winters can feel even longer. Going outside is a chore with all the snow gear. Coming inside from a Midwest winter means snowy boots, ice encrusted gloves. But eventually, spring comes, and it feels like shedding a skin. The snow boots are up on a shelf, and our hall closet is no longer stuffed with snowpants and puffy winter coats. We can go outside on a whim, come back inside, go right out again. I hear the sliding door make that familiar rhythmic sound of opening, closing, and opening again.

Spring marks one of my favorite times as a mother. The kids are drawn to the outdoors, and rediscover the backyard and the other children in the neighborhood. And the most magical event of the new year? The first outing to the park.

After winter, the kids have been cooped up, and they practically attack the playground. There is so much to do all at once, that usually, one of the kids will run up to me, out of breath and cheeks flushed with color and say, "Mom? Can we stay a long time? A really long time?"

Of course we'll stay a long time, I want to say. I wouldn't miss this for the world.

We know our children grow up quickly, but nothing drives that point home more than the first time at the park in the spring. The child who couldn't reach the monkey bars last fall can, just a few months later, not only reach the monkey bars, but can propel himself across to the other side. Or maybe a child has aged enough to graduate from the baby swings to the "real swings." I, the Mommy, can sit on a park bench beneath a tree bursting with blossoms, and see the tangible proof that my children are growing and learning. It's an unstoppable force. With each changing season, the world becomes just a little more accessible to them as their bodies and brains grow and develop. I can't stop it, and I wouldn't want to.

My six year old calls to me. "Mom!" he yells. "Look!"

"Be careful!" I answer. Mommies have to say things like that. But I smile when I see him, grinning proudly at the top of a web-like structure. Just last year, I remember there were tears when he couldn't quite reach his legs to the right places to climb up to the top. But here he is, after achieving his goal with barely any effort. "Do you see me, Mom? Do you see where I am? I didn't know I could do that!"