My son just turned two and, along with his new "official" age, he's developed an unprecedented new wave of self-confidence. To be completely honest, I thought I had, oh, another ten years or so before I had to worry about this inevitable development, but he clearly didn’t get that memo. This leaves me, his doting mom, to journey through all the emotional stages of watching your kid become more independent, regardless of whether or not I want to.
If you twist my arm I can admit that, of course, yes, seeing my son grow is one of the greatest joys in my life. However, it’s not always easy to realize a developmental stage I was totally enamored with has already passed us by. I mean, it feels like we just experienced that new change for the first time and it's already gone and my kid is already onto the next one and I'm just standing here, wondering what in the hell just happened.
So, yes, it's wonderful that our kids grow and learn and evolve and become self-sufficient individuals who will (hopefully) do marvelous things. It's also difficult to realize that your baby doesn't need you as much as they did yesterday. So I’m putting this right here, for every other parent on the planet who feels both excited and sad that their kiddo is starting to show signs of independence. Solidarity FTW, parents.