Anyone who has ever taken their child to their first day of kindergarten knows this feeling. You realize as you leave that school room that there is someone else who will be a tremendous influence on this offspring. The way your little one is looking at their teacher...let's just hope that teacher sees the miracle standing before them, and not just another little body to herd around!
That scene from the past is coming to mind because I am considering letting another offspring go out into the wide world. I got an offer from a publisher for a picture book I've been working on. The little girl in the book is part me, part our daughters, part imagination. And I'm feeling just a slight reluctance to let her go. Will that editor see her for the gem that she is, or just another character to manipulate into a formula? What will be left of my heroine after they are done with her?
Still, I know that there is no stopping the growth of a child. No keeping them from the trials and tribulations, successes and celebrations that will shape their lives. We know when we hold that warm, sweet, perfect baby, blinking in the bright lights of the real world right after they are born that this is a person with a destiny. Now they are apart from us, and though we hold them near for those first few years, the launching pad that will propel them onward, outward and away from us is never far from view.
There really isn't a reason for me to write a book unless I'm willing to send it out there. Risking those rejection slips, risking brief comments from editors who can't see the child for the mismatched clothes. So I guess I'll take the next step and see what happens. She may even grow into something fabulous, like our daughters and son have done. I guess I'll do like my friend Nelle Hudson used to advise. I'll hold the right thought.