Little One Meets Leggy Baby

This is Little One, trying to be as cool as Leggy here.

Once upon a time and long ago, I was in college. Leggy Baby wasn't an infant then, when I started looking after her, but she was still sort of my first baby. Leggy was growing up with a single mom- who was amazing to me by the way- who had to work crazy hours, and so I ended up lucky enough to spend a LOT of time with Leggy, picking her up from school and tucking her into bed, sometimes even getting her all to myself for whole weekends!
My friends referred to her as my "child", and I can't say I minded at all. Leggy's mom and I were at team during that time, and so I did try to be a good "parent" to her. We still laugh about how strict I was; making her eat her veggies, earning the title of "homework nazi", and having look-me-in-the-eye-and-listen-to-me-good chats in the parking lot when I dropped her off for parties. Take a good look at your future, Little One! Bwaaah haa ha! But we also stood on the furniture and danced to the radio until we fell over laughing, had food-fights in the kitchen, and did our nails while watching Gilmore Girls.
Leggy taught me all about the cost-reward balance of parenting. She taught me how a few jilted tears can totally break my heart. She taught me about staying up all night sick with worry. About canceling plans at the last minute because of a forgotten science project due tomorrow. She also showed me how catching those tears in a hug is such an honor, how someone else's good decisions can be the proudest you have felt, and how glorious it is when a report card comes in and you hear "wow, I guess I am pretty smart!" She showed me, definitively, that the hard work of being responsible and the ache of not being able to make the world perfect enough for a child you love is so totally worth the payoff. And, thank goodness, she helped me to be far less terrified of parenting a pre-teen. It can be pretty fun!
So you see how it was really cool and a little bit surreal for me to see Little One and Leggy together in one spot. Leggy, who is now older than I was when I started taking care of her. All grown up in college, eating all her veggies and everything. Sniffle. They grow up so fast!
Leggy you turned out even awesomer than I hoped you would. Please send your mom a big high-five for me on that one! Please know that even though we could theoretically go get a cocktail together at a bar now, you will always be my baby. I will always be proud of you and want to beat up people who are mean to you. And I will always race over at 95mph if you are alone and call me crying at night, so that I can catch the coral snake in a spaghetti strainer, throw it into the desert, and sing you back to sleep.