Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Releasing Balloons

As I was sorting through some old photos, I came across these pictures of the girls playing with balloons.



They were so little! And so cute!!

They loved playing with balloons. Is there a child who doesn't? 



When they were little, we always had balloons for the girls' birthdays. 

As they got older, the Husband and I stopped getting balloons on their birthdays because we thought they might be getting too grown up for them. We thought they might think balloons were lame. We were wrong!  

After a couple of years without balloons, the girls asked why we didn't do balloons for birthdays any longer. We explained we thought they'd gotten too old and would think balloons were just for little kids. The Husband and I were promptly informed that no one EVER becomes too old for balloons! YAY!



So, we do balloons for birthdays! 

Balloons just make people happy!! 

Unless you're a small child who has accidentally let go of a ballon! YIKES!!!



It's so upsetting for a little one to watch as their precious balloon floats away. So we point out to them how cool it is to see their balloon soaring with the clouds. We ask them how high they think their balloon will go - will it reach the moon? We Oooo and Aahh as we watch that ballon soar. We're relieved to see a smile spread across their sweet little face!

How precious our little ones are!

It may have been a bad idea to start sorting through old photos the other day. 

We dropped Miss Sofia off at college last weekend.



It was a little emotional coming across photos of the girls when they were little. 

The time has gone by so quickly!

I have loved teaching them, cuddling with them, laughing with them, kissing their owies, cheering them on, and just being their mom. 

Thank goodness Miss Emma has another 3 years before she leaves for college!

Like a little kid with a balloon, I didn't want to let go last weekend!!

I wanted to hold tight to the string and enjoy that balloon being mine and in my possession! To delight in its beauty and the joy it brought. But I knew that if I didn't let go, I'd never get the pure joy of watching it soar.

What each of us as parents want for our children is to watch them soar! Watch them find the purpose God has for their lives. We hope to see them use the lessons we've taught and learn a few new lessons on their own. Maybe even teach us a few new lessons.

Sometimes their start is a little bumpy. The string gets a little caught as they begin to takeoff. It does break loose though, and much to our delight up they fly. 



So we packed up our girl. We got her settled in her dorm. We took a family selfie. The Husband and I, with fingers trembling, released our girl so we can experience the great joy of watching her soar.

I'm still gonna tear up sometimes when I realize, in the middle of the grocery store, that I don't need to buy as much milk anymore. UGH!!! But mostly, I want to celebrate and Ooo and Ahhh as she reaches for the moon!!!

I'm still going to keep some tissues close by though.

Christine


1 comment:

master said...

What a great post Christine. Letting our babies go is so hard to do. I was at a wedding this past weekend where the Father of the Bride shared a memory of his daughter at age 6. It was time to take off the training wheels, and as he let go of the bike and his daughter was pedaling down the sidewalk he thought about how he had let go of that bike. He said that memory came back to him many times over the past few months during the wedding preparations. Letting go....that's what life is about, isn't it? I hope that Sophia enjoys college life as much as Noah is enjoying college life. Thank you for sharing. Nanci Kook (Noah Selbitschka's mom)