Endings

Tonight was one of those things that we don't really think much about. The LAST time you will do something with your child. Sure, next week will be a first, but this week was a last.
Tonight was the last of Elf and I's "Mommy and Me" music classes. She has graduated, and will start music classes on her own next week. Sure, the parents come in for the beginning and end, but it is no longer Mama and Elf time. We have been doing music for almost two years. Have I always loved it? No. Sometimes I thought it was cheesy. Sometimes I had to take Elf and leave due to toddler tantrums. Sometimes I didn't really want to sing and dance. But we did, and overall, I enjoyed it. Music has been one of the ways that I managed to spend one on one time with Elf, despite having one, then two other kids. This fall, I started G-man in music, and next fall, Bee will start as well.
Tonight was not one of the best classes. In fact, due to lack of napping, it started out being one of those classes that I wanted to leave. And, while Elf was rolling around on the floor, refusing to participate, first I wondered, is she really ready to advance to the next class? But I know that she is. As class progressed, though, she participated a little more. Then we got to rest time- quiet music plays, and tonight was our favorite song, the one that I have sung to all of my kids since they were born. Each child got a fleece blanket, and, as is generally the case, Elf wanted me to swing her in the blanket, like a hammock. I have a very small child, yet she is getting pretty heavy, and I don't always swing her in music any more. But I swung her in the hammock the whole 3+ minutes of the song, and thought about our time in music class.
And I hope, when Elf is grown, that she remembers these times. Not the ones, where, you know, I yell at her for spilling her milk or pushing her brother off the couch.