Are you there, Daughter?
It’s me, Mother.
Now that you are 5, you are counting down the days until you are a teenager. Please slow down. You counted down the days until you were 5 for about two years and now here we are. Let’s enjoy it! Let’s play pretend everyday. Let’s practice sports and painting your nails. I know there will come a day when you have better things to be doing than baking brownies in the kitchen with your mother, but for now, let’s bake every week! I want to continue watching your imagination and creativity bloom without any boundaries. I love watching you begin to form true friendships, the kind that were not forced from a playdate I arranged but those of which you have chosen completely on your own. You make me proud to watch you learn the importance of chores, and respect, and independence. Heck, you may be learning independence a little too well.
Are you there, Daughter?
It’s me, Mother.
Let’s not hurry the days. I know you can’t wait to be a teenager. You tell me when you are a teenager you want a car just like your grandmother’s. Well, believe me sister, I can’t wait to buy you that red mini van just like your grandmother’s the day you turn 16, ha. But I CAN wait for you to lock yourself in your room and only come out at mealtime. I CAN wait for you to ask me to drop you off a block away because I embarrass you. I CAN wait longer for you to experience the years of uncontrolled hormones and emotional roller coasters. I CAN wait even longer for your first heart-break. Being a teenager is a great season of life, but look at you now! You are wholeheartedly excited for the smallest of things, with fewer worries than you’ll ever have the remainder of your life. I know the days when you can’t find a My Little Pony or you get paint on your princess nighty are always “the worst days ever,” but if only you understood how good your days are now.
Are you there, Daughter?
It’s me, Mother.
I will snuggle you a little longer, hug you a little tighter, and say I love you a little louder, long after the day when I hear…
Are you there, Mother? It’s me, Daughter.
Photo by KB Photography
Be sure to share your stories below of how your little ones are trying to grow up too fast too!
