Growing Up

My intention was to write more stories about my adventures in France, but the weekend got away from me and today I have three doctor's appointments that I have to ferry people to, along with teaching.

I was at the doctor with Spencer this morning and he lopes along in front of me with a hoodie that proudly proclaims Basketball, but I doubt that anyone who sees him would think he isn't a basketball player.
His black Nike high tops are untied and his navy sweat pants sit low on his hips. He's tall and gangly. When he sits down in the doctor's office, his knees jut out taking up the space of the two adjacent chairs. I tap his big shoe with my foot, telling him to pull in those long legs.
Other parents are at the pediatrician with their little children. The kids play with the little beads that travel along metal tracks up and down and around in circles. They hum songs to themselves. Spencer texts his classmates and checks his Smurf village on his iPod.
Not that long ago, that was me at the doctor with my little kids, afraid they would pick up more illnesses from playing with the toys in the doctor's office.
Watching a little boy turn into a man is astounding. It feels so different from watching Grace grow into a woman. Maybe because it's so foreign to me.
That little boy who nursed at my breast, that little boy so curious about everything that he needed to touch it and smell it, that little boy is now a lumbering man, still not sure where his body ends and the world begins.