Fly Away Home

Just finished dropping off my daughter at camp. Seems like it should get easier every year, but somehow I feel our time together growing short and I resent relinquishing any of it. But as the old adage says, the two things a parent should give their children are roots and wings. So fly away my little bird.
By the way, she was the one who christened me with my user name, which I feel is so appropriate....

As I am a constant source of embarrassment to her, I continually mortify her every day (she's 15, what can I say..I should be so much smarter in about 5 years). After one particularly humiliating conversation, she turned to me, shook her head, and said "Mom, you are one odd chicken".
Silence ensued.
I burst out laughing.
"I think you're confusing your fowl", inserted my know-it-all son. "Don't you mean 'odd duck'?"
"No. No, I like odd chicken-it suits me," I affirmed.
And so, my new identity was born. (Humiliating her even further as she can't believe I would actually use it online!!...or garden in my swimsuit, or listen to Fallout Boy, or dare to joke around with her latest flame.)

However, this morning as she stumbled downstairs and onto the couch, she suddenly crawled into my lap. "I'm going to miss you," she said. "Two weeks is a long time."

Don't I know it!
Guess I'm not such an embarrassment as I thought.
Au revoir mon petit oiseau. Enjoy your wings, for I know your roots are firmly planted.
Happy Father's Day Daddy. Thank you for showing me what a parent should be.