Children grow every day, and unfamiliar moments keep arriving. Min hung out with her friends at the mall for the first time in NZ. She now borrows chapter books from school and watches films without dubbing. Hyun's writing from school paints pictures so vivid you can almost see them. And Jin already walks home chattering away with a friend.
Writing these stories, I often find myself scrolling back through old photos. The children from a year ago are noticeably smaller — it simply means they've grown so much since. A year of clinging to the monkey bars left small palms blistered and burst, over and over — until calloused hands could finally swing across with ease.
Spring brought lunchboxes packed tighter to keep up with bigger appetites. In Summer, we had to replace every pair of pyjamas and school shoes they'd outgrown. All that has already passed.
Time moves and seasons turn as children grow naturally. The things they decide and do for themselves keep multiplying. Where their next steps will lead, what choices will fill their young lives — our everyday feels like the trailer for a film we can't wait to see.