The Phantom Moon: Change

On Friday, I decided to paint my nails a nice shade of dark purple - Deep Violet to be exact. You know, since all the young kids are doing it these days (at least that's what I told my husband when he asked about my color choice). I needed a bit of change to spice things up for me a bit. I wasn't sure what BB's reaction would be. In my experience she doesn't like change too much so I wasn't sure if she'd like it or request that I "clean" my nails.

So I painted them and waited. It didn't take long for her to notice the change on Mommy's fingers and to my great surprise, she liked it! I guess it should come to no surprise that the girl who loves Pumpkins and Skeletons would like dark nail polish too. She immediately requested that I paint hers as well and I told her that only Mommy's color their nails this color but I would be glad to paint hers pink. She changed her mind and marched away, singing Jingle Bells and adding her own lyrics here and there.

Yesterday while I was sitting at the dining room table, little Miss BB climbed into the seat next to me and quietly eyed my hands. I watched her out of the corner of my eye and after a little bit, she nudged me and said, "Mommy, can you paint my nails now?". "Pink, right?" I asked her. You could tell from the look in her eyes that she was weighing her decision. In the end she said yes and I proceeded to quietly (and urgently) tell my Mom to grab her camera to document this historic day.

My little girl made me paint her nails with 3 coats of pink nail polish and one of "white" (really a clear top coat). She sat quietly the whole time and when it was done, kept staring at her nails as if they were the coolest things she'd seen since the Wonder Pets Christmas special.

The BB of 3 months ago would never have allowed me to paint her nails let alone sit still for it! And it was at that moment that it hit me. My little baby is a baby no more, even though I still see her as that some days. She is changing just like we all are and before you know it, she'll be in 1st grade, then High School and College and then the sky is the limit!

So I'm determined now that every time I get a little frustrated when she takes 5 minutes to walk up a flight of stairs (she examines everything), or doesn't want to eat a certain food (I think she's a vegetarian) or decides she doesn't want to share her toys that this time too shall pass. She will soon change into a young girl who understands more, who shares more and who can run laps around her mother. She will change because that is inevitable and I hope God gives me the ability to embrace all of the change He has to throw at me. And I'll change too, hopefully for the better. But in the end, the one thing that will never change is the fact that she will always be my baby.