Cutting the Cord

I am guilty of babying my kids. I figure they will only be babies once in their lives, so it's my one chance. I love to see them growing up, but I'm not anxious to see their time as babies end. Well, despite my efforts to slow him down, my biggest baby is getting more independent every day. At his request, we are trying another sleepover at grandma's tonight. Other than when the twins were born (when it was required), he has asked two other times to stay the night at my mom's house without either me or James also staying. Both times, I have had my parents give up and bring him back home by 2 a.m. It has been months since the last time he tried, so we have yet to see if he will be successful this time.

Tonight, he's with his grandma Claire on the promise of late night movies, waffles for breakfast, and a return trip home tomorrow. We had a showing on our house tonight, so we went over to James's parents' house to kill some time. We figured we would be returning around bedtime, so we got everyone ready before we left. Just before we were ready to leave, Jameson decided that he wanted to stay and watch movies instead of going home and going to bed (go figure). I tried to make sure he knew it meant he would be there without mom and dad, and we didn't want anyone to have to bring him home in the middle of the night. I'm still a little nervous, but I hope he makes it.

As much as I cherish him as my "baby", I also want to see him grow up to be confident and independent. I will miss not waking up to him tomorrow morning asking me to take him downstairs and get his chocolate milk, and he's only gone for one night. I can't imagine what I'm going to feel like when he tells me he want to go away to college.