The Emmons Kids

Learning to Let Go: Alexandra Turns 6

// August 4th, 2011 // General

свети атанасПравославни икониAlexandra turned 6 on July 5th and is now officially more than “one whole hand.” Since Alexandra’s 5th birthday, the biggest developments have been the loss of her first tooth and graduating from kindergarten.

There have been plenty of other changes too, but ones that are harder to pinpoint. Every parent has those moments, when you look at your child and they’ve seemingly matured overnight. You can’t always identify what it is, the sound of their voice, something they’ve said, or just their general “look,” but you can feel it – they are older somehow. I seem to get that feeling every other day now. And it is both heartbreaking to be yet again reminded of how time flies, and exhilarating to see the young girl she’s maturing into.

Personality traits apparent since she was a toddler are developing further, in particular how outgoing she is, striking up a conversation with people everywhere she goes, currently any kid that appears to be her age. You’ll turn around and there she is, “Hi, my name’s Alexandra and I’m 6. What’s your name and how old are you?” She also has a take charge attitude, and tries to take the lead in most situations. While a good thing, I do spend time coaching her that there’s a difference between being a good leader and friend, and just being bossy and mean.

One quirk I thought she’d outgrow but hasn’t is her refusal to wear any shirts or dresses with buttons on the front. I don’t know when or how that one started.

Her taste in TV has changed as she now prefers Wizards of Waverly Place and My Babysitter’s a Vampire to the usual cartoons, but still enjoys Scooby Doo. I’m always happy to snuggle with the kids to watch Scooby, and they just discovered two of my other childhood favorites, He Man and She Ra, which we watch together too. She also loves jewelry (not to wear often, just to collect it seems) and makeup.

Alexandra was very proud of herself at her kindergarten graduation – getting her diploma and signing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” with her classmates. Alexandra’s teacher choked up as she was reading each student’s name, and we are so lucky she had a chance to learn from her. I am still amazed at everything she knows and can do now – reading, writing, addition, subtraction, counting money, telling time. That last one I wish they would have waited on though, as I can no longer fake her into an earlier bedtime!

Alexandra will start first grade in just a few weeks now. I still have trouble comprehending that. We’ve been slowly collecting the items on her school supplies list, and she’s had fun picking out what she wants. The prospect of the bus, a new school and whole class of strangers is enough to make even our outgoing girl feel a bit nervous though.

At her birthday party, surrounded by friends from her old school, current school and her neighborhood too, I was reminded of how lucky our girl has been in meeting and making friends throughout her preschool days. I’ve used that to chat about her concerns over her new school, and her opportunity to make even more great friends.

During one of our mother/daughter walks the other evening, Alexandra let go of my hand, and said, “Mom I’m a big girl now, so I don’t have to hold your hand all the time anymore.” I agreed, saying, “True, but my hand is always here whenever you want it.” She quickly grabbed it again and we walked the rest of the way home hand in hand.

I’m learning that growing up means letting go of our children in little ways every day – showing our confidence in their ability to stand on their own. And while it can be difficult to let go, that moment helped me learn something equally valuable – that Alexandra growing up and me being willing to let go, does not have to mean us growing apart. I’ll always be there to give her guidance as her personal “spotter” and whenever she needs me, while giving her space to mature into the woman she will one day be, and that’s what it’s all about.