Thoughts on kids growth

Our kids are getting big.

That seems like an obvious statement, but sometimes it means different things for a parent. It's weird, trying to teach one of my children something, like reading, and watching them finally get it, and be able to create sounds out of their mouth on their own that actually mean something, sounds and meaning that they get from a page of letters while their little minds process it all on their own. Watching them do that is a wonder for me. It's a little like giving birth all over--during birth this little person that has grown physically inside me finally detaches and becomes their own living, breathing person. Teaching my child to read is watching a dependent little thinker finally detach and become an independent learner. I remember watching in awe the first time Jeffrey really started to put the sounds together as I taught him, that his little mind could comprehend and do on his own what I had done for him so long. It was like his brain had awoken, and I could see him in a whole new light as well.

There are other ways our kids are growing. The last few months I've actually noticed a dent in our food budget and the leftovers from dinner. All those yummy, adult foods that I've only cooked for years (I am not a believer in cooking our kids a separate meal for dinner, such as hotdogs or chicken nuggets, no matter what we have) which our kids complained they didn't like, they actually like now. And eat. In larger portions than I expected. Their consumption went from a couple of bites to a couple of servings. Which means no more leftovers-for-lunch for me, and now I'm having to start to eat the stuff they have for lunch--PB&J. Boo. What have I done to myself? Maybe I should have been serving them chicken nuggets all along.