The Circle of Life

Day by day, without our always noticing, kids grow up.

"Is this the little girl I carried?
Sunrise, sunset".

I know they grow up....little ones becoming big ones, everyone changing places at the tea table - "clean cups, clean cups". Our family has been watching it happen. Sometime this week my niece, Tweetums, is going to turn her parents into grandparents, DJ and Sean into great-grands. And this is the same child who turned them into grandparents in the first place. (Symmetry...we are all about symmetry in my clan).

"Turn around and she's two, turn around and she's four..."

Considered objectively it is a fascinating and even charming process, and yet it is mystifying, too. How is it that even as we watch them grow, we are sometimes caught up short and found shaking our heads in wonder at the little person who is no longer little? We knew it would happen, we watched it happen and yet....

We can't return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

Most of the time I am fine with this. Sometimes, sure, I miss the little chubber chubber cheeked baby who loved nothing more than to snuggle her mama; the one who drifted off to sleep while her papa crooned "Stairway to Heaven". But each phase in a child's life brings new joys and delights. Snuggly babies are awesome but there's no satisfaction like it when your kid starts to "get" irony or uses the bathroom in the night without waking you up or sits at a dinner party and makes fairly intelligent conversation with the guests. They are supposed to grow up and it's all good.

But sometimes, even so, I just get gobsmacked by some development. The latest one happened, I swear to you, overnight. One day she didn't, the next day (last Thursday to be precise) she did. And it is exactly like everyone says, exactly as it's portrayed in the movies:

"Really? They did? Why?"

"He kissed who at band camp?"

"He's such a player...I'm glad they brok...what? Really????" (laughity laugh)

"Did you hear about Hugo and Kim?" (No, seriously. Those aren't the names of the parties involved but it is exactly how the sentence was constructed).

Used to be she would get a call from a friend and it would go like this:

"Hi. Uh huh. Uh huh. 'K. Bye".

There was only one friend with whom she ever had substantive conversations by phone and that was Best Friend, who didn't live here. And I think they had 3 such conversations over the course of 6 years. The Child never, ever called anyone just to talk. Never ever.

Now? Yesterday, for example, I picked her up at the bus stop so we could go downtown and look for a dress for Homecoming. (Found one...adorable). She was on the phone when I rolled up. She stayed on the phone until we were almost to Nordstrom (aforementioned conversation about the player boyfriend of a friend who is now an ex-boyfriend because he's kissing other girls at band camp). As soon as we were done shopping and back in the car she was on the cell until we got home, this time talking about her dress, what shoes she'll wear with it and the protocol of corsages. I am not making any of this up.

I finally had to tell her to get off the phone so she could do her homework. Which she did. (So far she is way polite and mature and all "okay, mom" when this request is made). And 15 minutes later the phone rang again with a sweet voiced little, "Hi, is The Child there"?

"What's the story, morning glory? What's the word, humming bird".

Lord, lord, lord. I have to check our calling plan.