Let Them Stay Little

There's a song out that brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it and reminds me of the fleeting nature of these hectic, harried, crazy childhood days.  I thought of this one when I was going through pictures this spring, some from the Daddy/Daughter Dance - Sunny's first, terrified experience there - some from just regular playtime around the house.

"I can remember when you fit in the palm of my hand.

Felt so good in it, no bigger than a minute

How it amazes me,

You're changing with every blink

Faster than a flower blooms,

They grow up all too soon....

So let them be little, 'cuz they're only that way for awhile

Give them hope, give them praise, give them love everyday

Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle

Oh, just let them be little

I've never felt so much in one little tender touch

I live for those kisses, prayers, and your wishes

Now that you're teaching me things only a child can see

Every night while we're on our knees, all I ask is please....

Let them be little, 'cuz they're only that way for awhile

Give them hope, give them praise, give them love everyday

Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle

Oh, let them be little

So innocent, a precious soul, 

You turn around

It's time to let them go

So, let them be little, 'cuz they're only that way for awhile

Give them hope, give them praise, give them love everyday

Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle

Oh, let them be little."

--I've seen this credited to both Billy Dean and Lonestar, so I'm assuming both recorded/performed this song. In my immersion into children's music, I've been away from the contemporary scene long enough to know I like the song but not who to credit with it!

He's a bit shocked at all the floofiness at the Daddy/Daughter Grand March.  Actually, he cheered for the ladies here, too, just like he did at their dance recital.

Mike introducing his terrified and oh-so-excited four year old. Miss Mouse has that exact same expression at her first Daddy/Daughter dance two years ago. Precious.

Miss Mouse reminded Mike all.day.long that she wanted to introduce herself. When it came down to it, we thought she might get too nervous, but she took the microphone and clearly stated her name and her age with such gusto that she got a spirited round of applause (everyone got applause, but hers was more spirited with quite a few chuckles interspersed). What a difference two years has made!!!

They played "marriage". I was the pastor. Mighty Mouse was the congregation and the ring bearer. Miss Mouse is wearing one of Mike's old bowties and also has her second-prize-cooking-contest ribbon attached to her sweater as a boutinier (no idea how to spell that and too tired to look it up). She's wearing a Mr. Bubble shirt on backwards to double as her tuxedo shirt and a pair of Hello Kitty pajama pants on inside out for suit pants. Sunny goes with much explanation since she is the bride in the fancy dress. Mmmmm....I don't know exactly how to explain how much I love breathing in this beautiful "littleness".

  

Because it just terrifies me that suddenly we'll have blinked, and these little girls will be posing for wedding photographs.....

Not looking all that different than Sunny does here...

With big goofy smiles like their mommy's on her wedding day....

Thankfully, for now, the background is still our lowly screen door and our ever-faithful neighbors' blue house.

Incidentally, I've been working on a post, mulling it around in my head, to more openly explain why we homeschooled Miss Mouse for her kindergarten year and why we are going to continue on next year. It's going to come down to probably just listing all the benefits we have seen of this educational method for our own family, but this is definitely one of them. It's been such a privilege to be able to witness these kiddos grow in love and patience and understanding and care of and for each other over this past year. Not having to give up six hours of Miss Mouse's time with her family has been a huge benefit for our family in that endeavour - and for her, too, we believe. We deal, of course, with rivalry and jealousy and nastiness that comes apparently with certain ages of human beings, but it's been a blessing for us to just let her "be little" for a little while longer. She can read well; she understands some pretty advanced math concepts for her age; she placed in a writing and illustrating contest (more on that in another post sometime, too), but she also spends the afternoons in activities like planning a wedding for her and her sister. She deals as a six-year-old can with adult issues like infant death, loss of a sister she never met, serious illnesses in people she dearly loves....not "little" things by any means. We've talked about cigarette smoking and alcohol use simply because it's come up in conversations about other kids' parents' choices or television commercials....not "little" things, either. Yet, some of the harder things of older childhood haven't hit her close quite yet - bullying, cliques, etc. She's still "little", and that's so nice.