My daughter turned three years old this week. Looking through old pictures of my pregnant belly, my newborn, my crawler, my toddler, and now my preschooler, I can't help but pull a cliche. "They grow up so fast."
But, while the toddler-stage just might be over, I'm looking forward to the new world of preschooler parenting unfolding before my very eyes. More than any other stage in my daughter's development, I find her imminent preschool years magical. The days of colicky crying and incoherent babble are over, and my child's days as a budding individual are here.
Here are just a few of the reasons that parenting a preschooler feels like magic.
1. Everything is alive. A child's rapidly developing imagination combines with the innocence of infancy during the preschool years. Because of this, a three year old is likely to view almost everything in her world as a sentient, intelligent, feeling creature. I can't help but smile when my daughter expresses genuine, heartfelt concern because the "mama stick" that she is holding has lost her "baby stick." She'll also let a flower grow because it "doesn't want to be picked." This sweetly animistic view of the world is heartwarming and fun to watch-- and I know it will pass far too quickly.
2. We enter the age of "why." Many parents find their children's constant "why" questions annoying, but I think they're fun. I love to find out the answers to all of my daughter's obscure "whys" and "hows." As adults, we have become so accustomed to our worlds that we often fail to wonder "why" anymore. I hadn't thought about why apples come in different colors, why pigs have curly tails, or why people make wishes in water-fountains since I was in kindergarten. I treasure the opportunity to re-experience this stage and to guide my daughter through it.
3. A preschooler is a person now. I always assumed that my daughter would be just like me-- and she's not. But I'm not the slightest bit disappointed-- simply amazed. How can someone with my DNA, raised by me, have such completely different interests and perspectives? I don't know where she gets her love of cars and trains, but I'm adoring the magical opportunity to watch my preschooler becoming such an independent-thinking human being.
4. The mini-adult is coming out. At my daughter's current age, I'm beginning to see little glimpses into the adult she will one day be- and, even more excitingly, she is, too. A preschool-age child is starting to envision herself as a component of the adult world. She is beginning to imagine the sort of careers and hobbies that she may have as a grown-up. This is exciting and magical for both of us, because it gives us an opportunity to predict the outcome of 18 years of hard parenting: a happy, healthy, kind-hearted adult.
5. We get to play together. Don't get me wrong; I don't enjoy playing eight rounds of Candy Land in one day. But, as a preschooler develops an ability to reason and communicate on a more-or-less grown-up level, I get to enjoy the experience of playing with her, rather than "at" her. We work cooperatively to solve a puzzle or color a picture. This does provide much-needed relief and satisfaction after three years of doing things to my child, instead of with my child.
Moms of preschoolers are finally getting to see the light at the end of a long tunnel of early-child parenthood. Our kids are no longer just our kids; they're also becoming our best friends.
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