Last summer, I had an infant-in-arms and a little 3-year-old who I brought to our local swimming hole during those long, hot days. Both children needed their mama's arms while in the water, and while the hours spent there were refreshing and necessary to beat the heat, it was a challenge. 

This year, look what I have:

The infant, now a pig-tailed toddler, scooping up sand and squatting in the puddles along the shore.

My 4-year-old and her sweetest friend, snug in their Coast-Guard approved life-jackets, floating, playing, swimming, and giggling, without us, the mamas.

Not only do the big girls not need us, like they did last year, they don't want us. They're so secure and comfortable now, and thrilled to be out of arms-reach of us. Oh, what big girls. But do they really have to keep growing up?