'I see children as kites—'

it takes a lifetime trying to get them off the ground.

You run with them until

 both breathless,

you crash.

You add a larger tail,

They hit rooftops, entangle in trees.

You pluck them out of the mud,

You patch and mend, adjust and secure

knots of twine close to your side.

You watch them lifted by the wind

assuring them they'll fly.

Finally, airborne, you find

they need more string

and you keep letting it out.

With each twist of the spindle,the kite becomes more distant.

And somehow you know that it won't be long

Before the chord will severe

the umbilical that once bound

you together;

soaring free and alone.

and as the wind gusts

pushing the kite further and further

up towards the clouds Only then can you know

you did your job.

~Erma L. Bombeck