New Glasses

I got new glasses today.  The prescription isn't really that different, but the first time I put them on I almost fell over.  It's just such a different perspective.  My left eye's pretty good, but my right eye is kind of a mess, so it's a really uneven, trippy, odd feeling to try to walk through the mall with them on.  You'll be happy to know I put on the old ones to drive home.  I enjoy properly judging distances.  I highly recommend it to all of you other drivers out there! 

So the real reason I was at the mall was to birthday shop for Sylvia.  My beloved youngest child is going to be 7 on Wednesday.  (Which is also my wedding anniversary.  We had our 7th child on our 8th wedding anniversary!  Isn't that sweet!)  Sylvia has been celebrating all month (is anyone surprised?)  and now the time is almost here.  As she was going up to bed, I mentioned that tomorrow is her last day to be 6 years old, and she'll never be 6 again!  She tried to console ME about that thought by reminding me of the nieces and nephews and grandkids I have who have not yet achieved that lofty mature age of six yet.

The truth remains, my baby is going to be 7.  I tried to tell her that if she didn't get brushed and in her pajamas I wasn't going to LET her turn 7.  That smart little stinker is totally on to me!  I can't stop it.  I just have to adjust to this new reality. 

So I've got new glasses, and I'm seeing things a bit differently.  I took Sylvia to bed and prayed with her.  She asked God to show His compassion to our pet bunny, Dottie, that was stolen last night.  This is not the first time our bunnies have been stolen.  Maybe we should be praying for the rotten, low-down jerk that would steal a six-year old girl's bunny right out of the cage while she's SLEEPING!!!!  Anyway, I sat with my 1/3 of the way to legal adulthood daughter and listened to her prayers.  We chatted about school and when Daddy would be home. 

I love spending time with her, but seeing her as one of the big kids is like walking the mall in new glasses. It's clumsy and awkward.  I'm not sure if I can trust what I'm seeing is in the proper perspective. I feel like I'm leaning hard to the right or something.  Stuff that used to look close looks really far away.  (Like diapers and Tinkerbell, and Disney Princesses.)  It isn't as comfortable as the old vision I had of her being my baby girl. However, if I put the old glasses back on and choose not to use the new ones, I might miss out on the ways they will make my vision sharper and more clear.  I might miss the important details of what's going on around me.  I might not see her, or my other kids as clearly as I should.  That would be devastating to my Mother Heart.

So I'm going to tough it out for a few days with the new glasses.  We'll celebrate Sylvia's birthday, and pray for many more.  I'll love my husband and be thankful for the 15 years we've been married to each other, and pray for many more.  It might be uncomfortable for a while, but I'll adjust to this newer, sharper vision of my beloved family.