Sunday was our company picnic at Waldameer. My daughters made fast friends with the daughters of a couple of co-workers and within an hour of meeting each other the four girls -- ranging in age from 4 to 5 were walking hand-and-hand toward the kiddie land rides chanting "Frog hopper, frog hopper, frog hopper!" The crowd had to part to let the girls pass by four-abreast because they weren't letting go of each others' hands.

We parents stood back and laughed. Though our daughters didn't known each other well, we mommies knew quite a bit about each kid because, well, we discuss them endlessly at the office. We compare behaviors, ask "Does so-and-so ever do this?" and "How do you handle that?" The greatest parenting resource I have are my co-workers with kids who are about the same age as mine.

As the girls ran from ride to ride, sitting next to each other (and all together) whenever possible, we joked how nice it would be when they're about 12 or 13 years old and we parents can stay in the picnic pavilion with the beer, wine and food and tell the girls to "check back" at a certain time.

But, life has taught me that it's never that simple. These girls will get older and develop their own personalities and insecurities and friends and they'll likely resent their parents for trying to force them to hang around with their co-workers kids at the annual picnic. They'll cringe when we tell them how they used to run around the park holding hands when they were younger because it's likely that they older they get, the less they'll have in common (with the exception of parents who work for the same company).

I realize that's a pessimistic view to take -- to recognize the good and miss it before it's even gone. For now, I should just enjoy the innocence of young girls who can make friends easily and unabashedly. Who hold hands for the sheer pleasure of it and bond over nothing more than their gender and a love of Waldameer's Frog Hopper ride and anything pink.