"By myself"

Maybe it's the fact that we have been emphasizing to Iman that she is a "big girl" now, or maybe because since Ayzah's birth Iman sees herself as the bigger more independent child of the house, I don't know what's caused it, but my little 3 year old has decided that she can do everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, by herself.

I can't even count the number of times each day I get to hear "I'll do it by myself".

She can eat by herself, she can dress herself, she can wear her own shoes, she can comb her own hair, she can get on to the toilet, she can brush her own teeth, she can spend hours entertaining herself with self made games...

and today, when I popped her in the bath, she went ahead to say "Mama go out, I'm a big girl and I can wash myself."

In reply I asked... "Even your hair?"
and her answer... "Yes mom, even my hair." (suggesting... DUH!)

People may think that a child's growing independence is a time to celebrate. It even seems convenient that the elder child has learned to manage herself at most tasks, but there is something bizarre about motherhood, no matter how old they get, we just don't want them to grow up and stop needing us.