Fledglings

I love to watch the birds this time of year. A family of robins nested in a tree in our front yard and we have been enjoying peeking in to watch them grow from little blue eggs to fledglings ready to leave the nest. Yesterday at lunch time Evan spotted two of those little birds on one of our chairs on the back porch. There were several adult birds keeping watch from the fence posts. A community of robins with a goal! We stood at the sliding door for quite awhile and watched as the flight lesson played out. One of the fledglings took a leap and flew straight into the neighbors house! But she picked herself up quickly and was zipping through our yard in no time perching in the trees for a break and taking flight again. The second little guy took his time though. He sat for what must have been twenty minutes just waiting. Working up the courage, I think, to take flight. At one point one of the adult birds that had been staying close came to the chair with a nice juicy worm in his mouth. He was there to encourage the little guy, I'm sure. Shortly after that Ada scared him from his perch and he took to the skies.

This week Evan had a Kindergarten assessment. As we were leaving the school the teacher asked if he was ready for next year and then she turned to me and asked the same thing. With no hesitation I replied, "Absolutely!" It's not that I am eager to send my fledglings out into the world yet. Though I do crave the quiet that will come when it does happen now and again! I am simply enamored at every turn that this journey takes. I am so proud of Gracie and the little lady she is becoming. The conversations we have about life and friendship and the future are moments I would never want to miss by keeping her little. I am so excited to see how Evan leaps into Kindy next year with a room full of new friends and a teacher to guide him on his learning path. I am trying to, ever so patiently, navigate the tricky waters that are the "2's almost 3's" with Ada as she tests her boundaries and learns what she is capable of.

Motherhood is a journey. It's a process of watching and guiding our little robins from tiny infant to fledglings ready to fly the nest. I am excited to see what types of people my little ones become. I have high hopes that with plenty of guidance and lots of prayer they will take to the skies with determination and the Breath of God to hold them up.