The Road to 40 Day 293/365: Growing Up Slowly

Vino is turning nine this year, and I think I’ve got to start thinking about letting him figuring things out on his own.

Living in Singapore is an incredible opportunity for him to practice independence. It’s generally a safe country to live in, so I think I’ll be able to let him go by himself little by little.

He’s got to start somewhere, so for the past couple of days, I’ve been letting him go home by himself while I did some errands like getting something from the mart or getting the mail.

Since the last time we took a longer bus route, he’s been more alert about where we are now so that he knows when it’s time to go, which is a good start. A lot of local kids his age can go by themselves now via public transport, and it’s easy to trust that they are going to be safe.

We’ll practice this at some point, I’ll just have to figure out how to shadow him without him noticing.

I don’t mind taking him to school and picking him up, but these are life skills he’d need to get used to at some point.

At night, he still sleeps with us, which is both a blessing and a curse. It’s nice to feel him snuggle to fall asleep, but while he sleeps, he can be a bit bothersome because he kicks us out of the bed. Che has been on the wrong end of these middle of the night hits most of the time.

For me, it’s either I sleep through it that I don’t notice, or he’s just used to me being just there that his body remembers to just push towards my side of the bed. Before he sleeps, though, I still enjoy him finding warmth on my arm.

He will grow up, inevitably, and I will do anything to help him be ready to face the world by himself. For now, I’m just happy that I’m able to be present for him during these years that he’s grown up, but not yet.