Celebrating Five

Our youngest daughter turned five yesterday. We had a wonderful family celebration, revisited our birthday traditions and enjoyed seeing our “baby” bask in the glow of being a “big girl.”

Yet, for me, it was slightly bittersweet. There is something about turning five that truly marks the end of an era. She can no longer be considered a toddler or even a pre-schooler. She can clean her own room, get herself dressed, get her own drinks, write her own name, carry her own backpack, and the list goes on.

My first instinct is to want another baby. Especially when I see delicious images such as this and this—it is hard not to drift off into baby la la land. Although it is tempting, I don’t think baby number three is the resolution to my current feelings (right now anyway).

Her fifth birthday marked a right of passage for both of us. For our daughter, it marks the transition into girlhood and for me it marks a new phase of motherhood. A phase where I am needed less physically but perhaps more emotionally. A phase where I will miss the tender, soft, silent moments yet enjoy the newfound conversations and adventures. I am learning how to savor the memories while soaking in the questions, curiosity and explorations that can only come with age–thank goodness she still loves to snuggle

On a lighter note, our five-year-old’s request for her birthday cake, was to make “Hide and Seek Muffins” from Mollie Katzen’s wonderful cookbook, Pretend Soup. We added a touch of frosting on top to make them a bit more festive; they were delicious!