Tiger wanted to update me of an important development in his life.

“They are letting me and my classmates go to the football ground (next to the school premises) on our own now… We have become big!”

It had been more than a year since my last post on the “dad” blog, and strangely, I had been considering shutting down the blog – since the kids were almost grown-up now.

So, I put the suggestion to a family vote. And, it turned out that my family wanted me to continue. In whatever form or shape my parenting lens permitted.

The phase of adorable tidbits uttered by my little kids in moments of pure innocence is in the past now. Tiger is now 11 and Pumpkin, at almost 15, is a full-blown teenager. They are not so little any more, you see.

Side note to myself: Where did all those years go?!

They still like cute videos of fluffy cats or adorable puppies (who doesn’t?), but everything else is evolving… Their individual preferences in music, their sense of fashion, even our titles have changed from mama and papa to mom and dad. Our conversations now include topics like career choices and streams of higher education and members of the opposite sex. (Yes, someday it had to happen!)

If you ask the not-so-little people, going to football camp thrice a week (Tiger) or attending tuition classes that end at 10 pm (Pumpkin) is not adventure enough.

Before I know it, my children will leave the cocoon of their school and surroundings, and venture out into the world on their own – soaking in new experiences like urban explorers – fumbling, and then (hopefully) finding their feet.

They say being a parent is like having your heart live outside your body for the rest of your life.

Is it any wonder that holding on is as tough to do as letting go?