So, there I was, standing in the new homeroom of my oldest daughter Jessica, who is entering the seventh grade this year, during her school's open house. And I found myself thinking, "What am I doing here?" "How did I get to be the mother of a seventh grader?!" It seemed so surreal. I couldn't possibly be old enough to have a daughter going into the seventh grade! I was surrounded by teenagers that looked beyond their years.
Where did the years go? It seems like yesterday I was kissing her baby feet. Now, as much as I still love my daughter, I wouldn’t dream of kissing those stinky, sweaty feet after they have spent a day of running around in her Converse sneakers! Where is that baby that used to hang on my every word and laugh at every funny face I made? Now, almost thirteen years later, I have to mention something like money just to get her attention and the mere sight of me at the wrong moment could cause her dire embarrassment in front of her friends. The baby who used to want cuddled and held and rocked to sleep at night would now rather spend the day hanging out with her friends and spend the night going to sleepovers.
I am not the only one who has noticed this “growing” phenomenon. Even my daughter herself has noticed changes in her friends this year. On her first day of school, I asked her about her day and the biggest thing she had to tell me was how much her friends had changed over the summer. She couldn’t believe how tall some of them had gotten. According to her, one girl had grown eight inches, seriously, eight inches! Another girl that used to have long blond hair now has short black hair and yet another has gone “Goth” with black clothing and leopard leggings. One more has hair that is two colors at the same time! She was even interested in the clothes her teachers were wearing, describing her Civics teacher’s outfit down to the funky pattern on his tie.
Jessica has noticed that her friends are growing up too and with that they are exploring their own sense of style and testing their independence. My daughter’s style used to be determined by me: cute little coordinating outfits with ruffled socks and the occasional dress with bonnets in the summertime. Now that she is on the brink of “teendom”, the only Ruffles that come near her are of the Frito-Lay variety and the last dress she wore was for her first communion because it was a must.
Yes, my baby is growing up. No, she is not there yet, but it is happening and there is nothing I can do to stop it. All I can do is help her along. She has already gone through so many changes from the first time I held her in my arms and she will go through many more in the next few years. It will be a rocky road for her, (and most likely for her father and I), these coming teen years. I have already had “the talk” with my daughter, and many other talks. I make time to chat with her and make sure she knows she can come to me with anything, good or bad, and that it will never change how much I love her.
All I can say is cherish every moment with your children because it goes by in a blink. Don't wait until "tomorrow". Take the time to play with them today. Talk with them today. Teach them today. Snuggle with them today and let them know they are loved like crazy.
Hopefully everything we have taught our daughter and will continue to teach her, and all the love we have given her and will continue to give her will provide her with the skills to cope with the challenges she will face in the coming years and to embrace the joys life has to offer as well. Because at some point, no matter how much we want to hold on, we will have to let go.
