Babies No More

I feel like it has just dawned on me in the last couple of days that we don't have a baby anymore. We are now the parents of a preschooler and a toddler. The kids seem to have grown up more in the past month than in the six months before that.

I am amazed that we are going to have to register Claudia for kindergarten one year from now. How is it possible that she is going to be in elementary school in a year and a half? I am so excited for her to start on that path--new friends, adventures, learning. I must admit that I am sad too that she isn't my little baby girl anymore. (Well, I tell her she will always be my baby girl, but you know what I mean.)

I have also found it very hard to know how I should be parenting her lately. She still is just 3, but she seems to be "maturing" well beyond what I expected her to be at 3. She still has the temper tantrums (almost daily) but she is also wanting to be more independent from me, which isn't all that different from before, but what is different is that she can actually do so much more independently than she used to.

I am trying to give her the independence that she craves. I am trying to step back and let her try things her way even if it isn't the way I would do it. It is hard. I keep questioning if I am guiding her enough or being to strict.

If anyone has any advice or wants to commiserate with me, leave me a comment. Please!