I'm getting older... older like my bones make unnatural creaking sounds in the morning... older like I worry about heartburn if I eat too close to bedtime... older like I'm losing hair on my head and gaining it in my eyebrows and ears instead (don't judge). My kids are growing older, too. Damn kids. They don't stop. But I still think somewhere deep down, they'll always be those little kids to me.
Those little girls I used to twirl.
When they were really little, I'd pick them up and do the "super boing," which was a sort of flying leap across the room. When they got a little bigger, I'd lift them in my arms and dance the tango with them (a demented and sad tango... but a tango). When they got even bigger, I'd swing them around in a circle like a flying helicopter as they screamed for more until I nearly passed out from the G-forces.
Those little girls I used to twirl.
It seems recently the picking up is less and less. My older daughter is so tall that the last time I tried to swing her like a flying helicopter, she skinned her knees on the ground because we couldn't gain enough altitude. The tangos have slowed down. The super boing was long ago retired after two slipped discs and a series of back problems.
Those little girls I used to twirl.
Today, out of the blue, my younger daughter asked me to pick her up... I did it. We swung in a circle. My older daughter asked me to pick her up too... it was more of a dare "I bet you can't lift me daddy." I asked her to step up on the bed. She did. And then I lifted her too and we did the twirl. I deposited her back down on the bed. The younger daughter asked me to twirl her again. I asked her also to step up on the bed. She did. And we twirled again. Then the older daughter asked me to twirl her again. And the younger daughter asked me to twirl her again. And in a turn back the time moment.. I grabbed one kid... and then the other kid.. and they both hugged me tight... and I twirled them both together. They laughed with excitement. I laughed with joy. We spun. We spun some more. And when they finally landed back on the bed there was total satisfaction that for just a little while longer... at least for this one moment.. they were still my little girls.
Those little girls I used to twirl.
Those little girls I can still twirl.
Today anyway.
