Our little robins

One day a few weeks ago, the children and I sat

in circle time and learned a sweet song about three

little robins living in a big oak tree. 

Eventually, their mother tells them to fly and so they do.

  Later that very day, I see 

a robin sitting very patiently on a nest in our big oak tree.  

And the following day, there are three little robins 

waiting for their mother to bring them food.  We watched these

birds for a week.  And the first time I photographed them,

the mother robin sat on a tree limb of an adjacent tree.

She sat so still.  Just watching me for quite a while.

I was teetering on a very tall ladder hoping to get all three

robins at once.  Eventually, she flew off to find food.  I

surmised that she must have felt I was harmless and

her little ones were safe.  I watched the mother feed

her little ones everyday.  It was amazing.

 About a week or so later, 

I saw one of the little robins venture out to a nearby

limb.  And I knew that it was time.  They were going to fly.

The morning that I found them gone, I was so sad.

I mean truly sad.  I got over it just thinking about

how wonderful it must be to fly.  I tell this story because

as a mom, my little ones seem to be taking their own steps towards

flying everyday.  Sometimes, I am sad.  Mostly because they

are growing much too quickly.  I think about what I

appreciate the most in our mother...and it is this--when it was time,

Mom let me fly.  She didn't hover.  She didn't peck.  She was patient. 

She let me take my own falls.  If I needed her, I knew where she

was.   I can't imagine how hard it must of been at times

to watch me make my mistakes.  Just like the mother robin

watching from afar, Mom watched and waited.

Thank you for being what I needed...Much love, am