Passing of the Swing

What do you get when you take 18 people times three days of togetherness?  For me, I get endless opportunities to use my camera and lesson upon lesson to learn and boundless joy to experience. 

It is always fun for me to see how excited the grand children get when Wyoming cousins come to Oklahoma.  Their parents try to get them together as often as school and work schedules allow.  But sometimes it can be six months between visits.  In a toddlers life, six months could mean the difference between walking and running, jabber and formation of words or graduating from pampers to the potty chair.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, whenever I saw Muffin and Tornado together it became clear that Muffin was passing on the torch of youngest.  She used to be the one that had to have an adult accompany her outside. And it was little Miss Muffin that everyone one else was supposed to keep an eye on.    

.....but now, it seems, that Muffin is the one keeping an eye on Tornado.

 

When ever a door is left open, even for a split second, Tornado is on his way out.

First he hits the patio at a dead run, resisting anything in his path....... leaves, wind, gates - they stop him not.

Then he's on to the open yard where no fence exists - only wide open space - a perfect opportunity for a kid to run free, taste leaves and gather sharp sticks.

Tornado is careful to look around for adults lurking about who may put a halt to his sprint of freedom.

And if he finds himself caught in their glance, he begins to put together a plan for escape as quickly as he flashes those baby blues.

"Laugh and run," seems to be his plan of distraction as he heads toward the swing.

There he finds his cousin, Muffin, who leads him to safety.  She persuades Yaya to put Tornado in the baby swing, where she once was placed for safe keeping in the back yard.

The passing of the swing begins, as Muffin takes hold and gives her first official push, symbolizing her transformation from the younger needing care to the older care-giver.

Tornado flies high.  Muffin takes special care to make sure he does not twirl in circles or swing too fast. 

All that is left to do now, it stand still and say good bye to what was and give thanks for the big girl she is becoming and the cousin who just six months earlier was not running into the wind and hanging with his cousin-friend.

23. I am grateful for Autumn days chilling toward Winter.


I hope you can burst forth from your door to greet the day with expectant curiosity.  I hope you feel free enough to run and laugh and resist the wind.  I hope you have someone in your life who keeps and eye and you and has your back.

Yaya