learning to fly

Big day tomorrow! I'll be escorting my youngest fledgling to school, where she'll begin to grow her feathers. It's a day she and I have been counting down to for days ... weeks ... months, even. And while I make the big talk about how I just can't wait to have them all off my hands (and that's indisputably true, as I long for freedom and autonomy like my next breath of air), I have to admit that there are likely to be tears. Maybe not tomorrow, or the next day, as those are mutual expeditions, but next week, as I leave her to begin the part of her life that requires her independence, I suspect there might be a few drops - nothing fills me with pride and delight as much as watching my children move forward into their lives. I can just see her with her little "packpack", saying hello to her friends, painting little pictures, and generally starting to learn about the world outside our house and our little circle of family. And tomorrow, I really will begin to see all of that, and her delight in it as well. And I will savor it.