half again

Yesterday Iris turned 8 and a half, and as has been our tradition now for a year, we headed out, just the two of us. 

The idea of this tradition is to carve out space for mama and girl.  To talk, maybe hike, relax, and enjoy eachother's company.  Yesterday it blowed and snowed, so although we had packed journals and binoculars and hoped to see some water birds, we ended up spending most of our time lingering over lunch and hot chocolate.  We read some inspiring Eleanor Roosevelt and we talked about how brave Annie is in The Magic Treehouse series. 

Then we went thrifting, because we both love it.  I always struggle with this because it's so easy to add more stuff to your life when you find it used.  And buying stuff, just because, isn't something I want to teach this girl.  So we hunted and marveled and at the end of the day we sifted through our cart full of treasures and bought only just a few things, putting all the rest back on their shelves in recognition of just not needing all that stuff.  She did that easily and gracefully.  She chose to keep something for herself and something she had picked for her sister.  And I saw in this young girl, a wisdom and maturity that swelled my heart. 

As we drove we sang out loud to our current favorite, and stopped for a few minutes along the road to watch two Sandhill Cranes, just feet away, crank their alarms at us while they picked weeds and threw them in the air and gracefully stomped their feet asking us to leave.

And as always, I marveled at this girl, belting out the words to the song, watching in silent amazement at the cranes, and choosing wisely what to bring home from the thrift store.  I remembered again how honored I am to be her mama, lucky to grow by her side, eager to be there with her as she moves out into the world.