As Time Goes By

My baby is blooming in Kindergarten.
She is reading, writing, and "rithmetic-ing" up a storm around here.
Today she aspires to become a ballerina, a doctor and a mommy.
Last week, she wanted to be a pizza chef.
As a naturally social little creature, she is only truly in her element when she is surrounded by her swarms of pig-tailed compatriots.
She loves, and I mean LOVES to do homework.
I couldn't be happier for this stage and phase in her development. It is a joy to see her taking steps of independence.
Every day, I drop her off at school, and her teacher helps her out of the van.
She walks a few steps toward the classrooms, then suddenly stops as if she has remembered something important. She turns around and finds me watching her; smiles an eye-pinching grin; waves at me; and blows me a big, beauty-pageant kiss.
And I smile back and blow her a kiss too.
And though I adore the goofiness of this tradition of departure...my heart breaks just a tiny little bit every time I drive away.