Independence

I'm going to make a dramatic departure from my usual wordy (too wordy?) posts and give you these photos instead, not only because yesterday was a long day indeed, as most Mondays are, with too many things to think about and too much thrown into the mix, but also because I think the photos speak so perfectly for themselves. I'm sure they will strike a chord with parents of feisty, I-just-turned-FIVE-and-can-do-it-on-my-own-thank-you-very-much children everywhere:

I call these photos "Independence," and while I did have to stifle some impatience over all the messes I had to clean up yesterday afternoon in the wake of T.'s insistence that she do it all on her own, I couldn't help but melt inside when I saw how proud T. was every step of the way.

No one said growing up wasn't a messy business.