J almost never cries when we drop her off. These days, it’s usually a quick “Bye bye!” called over her shoulder as she runs off to play with the other kids. Sometimes she’ll blow a kiss and say byebye as all the toddlers sit down to breakfast.

This morning, she cried. Some mornings, she does. And mostly, I hand her to one of the incredible teachers there and give her a kiss and a relaxed, happy, “Bye bye, see you this afternoon!” same as I say when she’s not even paying attention. But this morning, something was different. I’m not sure what. She was crying differently. So I picked her up and held her close, and she rested her head on my shoulder for a few minutes. She cried a little bit more, then sighed a big sigh and picked her head up off my shoulder. She wiggled to get down, and when I put her down she climbed into her chair for breakfast and announced, “Byebye!” with a big grin.

I guess she just wasn’t quite ready and needed one more hug.