Is This The Last Summer That She'll Be Little?

My daughter graduated from preschool recently. When she started at Little Folk Farm she was 2 1/2 and went in wearing a Pull-up. She attended preschool for 3 years and I never thought it would end. I never really looked beyond dropping her off and picking her up at preschool. I thought the colors and shapes and numbers and letters and circle time would go on forever. Watching her graduate from preschool creates visions in my mind of a tween, an adolescent, a teen and a woman; all with red hair and blue eyes. I struggle to keep the vision as a happy daughter that always thinks I am someone to be proud of as her Mum. I know she thinks the world of me now. She thinks I am perfect, and for her I want to be so. I fear a vision of a surly, pierced, tattooed, defiant, teen that only wants to be with her friends. It hurts to think she might stop talking to me, that she might think I am an embarrassment to her, that she might come home and go right into her room every day. I worry that she won't listen to me or even want to hear my voice. I remember being a teenager.
This summer I have been lucky to arrange my work so that I can spend everyday with Charlotte. I take her with me pet sitting, shopping, on errands and visits. We can be together all day and I never tire of her company. She is a happy little daisy in my day, eager to come along, always asking, "What's next Mama? What are we doing now?" We talk and plan the day together. I have always wanted to be with my daughter full time, but I had to put her in day care at 5 months old. Everyday since then I have worked somewhere and struggled with the pain of leaving her with someone else. I spent all the days thinking about her and missing her company. I would look at the clock and think about what she might be doing at that moment. Sometimes I would pick her up from preschool and she would have a cut or a scrape or a bruise. She would tell me that she cried when she was hurt, and I would feel an overwhelming pain wash over me knowing that she needed me and I wasn't there.
So here we go this summer together finally. I savor each day and try to slow it down...because I know September will come, and she will never be 5 years old in the summer again.