Three, Two, One LAUNCH!!!

I am a mother to two very different blond children. Gender is the obvious difference. They are both so joyful and so pleasant and so wonderful and so this and so much more of that. This past week they have both LAUNCHED in two different ways. Ways that required bravery. Ways that require an inner confidence.

Let me start with Emerson. Emerson was the surprise fifth child. Rooms already arranged and sleeping arrangements in order Emerson's only known spot to sleep in his entire life is our spacious walk in closet. This has connected him in a way that all the other children will never have known. Late night sleepy chats as mommy and papa go off to bed. Early morning rising with papa chatting away while papa gets ready for work. Always within a soft voice of mama I need you, or mama I have to go potty. Very cozy, and very much not ever being in his own room with a bed. His crib has been his special sleeping spot for the better part of 3 1/2 years. It's a navy blue crib which has now been broken down and put away until that day when grandchildren enter the world. Emerson was not shy about this part of growing up. He said he was scared, just a little. David and I assured him that he is the only one with his very own room accept for Elliot who is visiting. Emerson holds all the power with his two older brothers. When Elliot goes back to school, Ethan will move out and all three boys will have their own rooms, but for the next few weeks Emerson is the envy. He looks like a little baby in his big bed, and his room is large, so he seems so distant even looking in on him at night. He has launched into boyhood with a smile and loves his new space all to himself.

The reason for the room being available to Emerson is that Emily has also launched... into young adulthood. She has taken a room in a darling cottage style home in Portland's coveted Multnomah Village. I always dreamed when my children left home it would be a cozy little community that we could walk to some quaint little cafe. That we did to celebrate her first night away from home, her own address, her own decisions about how her day and how her future will go. I am blessed that she wanted me to come along and help her set up and decorate her room. She has always asked me to do this, but for some reason I thought I was no longer needed.

These are major changes on different levels for these two kids. To see confidence grow in each one of them is one of the unspoken gifts we mommy's get. I am so proud of how brave they both are.

My heart swells to think of the miles we must go to see our little ones growing up and then taking that step past the front porch, or out of the closet of safety onto their own front porch. It's sweet and joyous.