Lynda Loveland: That one picture

Sometimes it’s the little things that get ya.

This has been a crazy couple of weeks in my family. Today is the last day of school, so there has been all kinds of celebrations, outings and plays involving my kids.

My youngest is finishing kindergarten. It’s a big year in their lives. It’s the transition from little kid to big kid. For my husband and me, it was also the transition from paying daycare to NOT paying daycare.

I was at Carys’ end of year celebration getting ready to watch a slideshow when her teacher warned us there could be waterworks. Several parents reached for tissues. I thought, nah, I’ll be fine. And I was, up to a point.

I saw a picture of Carys on her first day looking sooo excited. I thought, how sweet! Most of the pics were of her mugging for the camera with her friends. She had such a great year and she was so fortunate to have a fantastic teacher.

Then “the” picture came up. That one picture that told me in no uncertain terms that my baby girl was no longer my baby girl. She was a big girl now who went from loving princesses at the beginning of the year to loving Taylor Swift at the end.

The picture was very simple. Carys was caught off guard so she wasn’t making a silly face or smiling. She was simply looking into the camera, almost expressionless. But there was so much to see. Like the baby fat that used to be in her cheeks and the clothes that looked more tweenish than toddlerish.

In one second, in one picture, I felt like I lost my baby girl.