She runs away

She runs away from me, a little further each day. Squealing with glee, captioning her flight, as if I didn't know it:

I running away Mummy!

Even as she runs she longs to be close. She twists to watch me as she races the other way, bumping into walls and trees and tumbling down hills because no matter how many times I call out, "Watch where you're going!" she is always looking back, to me, not forward.

I guess that's the nature of independence in its seed form, isn't it. The growing confidence of a toddler who is testing the boundaries of her world from the safety of her mother's and father's love. Without a strong hand to shake off or a safe harbour to farewell, independence is just loneliness.

Later, she curls on my lap and we read stories.

I really lub you Mummy, she murmurs. I lub you for ebba.

{Joyful springtime photographs brought to you by a rare and incredibly precious mother-daughter morning at Floriade in Canberra}