My 5-year-old Wants to Move Out

The conversation went something like this,

"I wish I could live with my friend." Jo said with a long sigh, "Forever."

"Oh. Well, if you lived with her, then I wouldn't be your Mommy." I said.

"I know." Jo replied (That's the sound of my heart breaking in two, in case you were wondering what that snapping sound was).

"Wouldn't you miss me? I know I'd miss you." I said, hoping that she'd remember how much she, ya know, loved her Mommy.

"Um... well, maybe. A little."

Oh. We're here already. I thought my daughters would like me until they were teenagers. Apparently, I was off by a decade or so. It could be that she started kindergarten this week, and that's why I took it so personally or it could be that ever present worry that I'm somehow messing this whole parenting thing up. That's the thing about parenting. You don't know if you're doing it right until they're grown. I'm not much of a long-term kind of person. Anything longer than a semester and I lose track of why I started in the first place. There aren't parenting check points along the way, and that's what makes this so hard, because you hope that you're being the parent they need without a way to ever really check.

So, to the mommas whose 5-year-olds want to move out or if you're wondering if you're doing a good job I say this: if you're taking the time to worry about whether or not you're doing a good job and you love your kiddos in a healthy way, you're doing a good job. As much as it hurts to let the kiddos branch out on their own, just think of what neat little people they're turning into.