My daughter turns Sweet 16 this week. It is truly bittersweet. I crave my baby, toddler and sweet innocent 8 year old back. I want my girl in braces back. I long for the nights we laughed in bed together, reviewed our day and fell asleep beside each other. I miss our hugs and snuggling and when she willingly and genuinely said, "I love you" to me.
However, I am glad that she is finding her own identity. Right now, as I type, she is downstairs watching a movie with a boy. His voice is deep, his shoes are large and he is over 6 feet tall. This is her friend. She primps for one hour per day; it takes 30 minutes to curl her hair, or straighten it. She wants her hair blonder and her nose pierced. She looks so graceful when she dances, her passion. She can drive soon. What? It was only 3 years ago that she was unable to sit in the front seat. She is becoming a woman.
I actually remember being 16. It was wonderful but also HARD.
School pressure. Future. Friends and foes. Boys. Hormones. Sleep. Insatiable hunger. Falling in love. Rules to question. Frontal lobe development. Rationalizing. Messy room. Growing responsibility. Who the hell am I and who do I want to be? Peer persuasion. Family always there.
This is the age when my child needs me the most. She needs my confidence in her, with boundaries set. She needs my support, with leeway for independence. She needs more of my money than her other 16 years; for cell phone bills, clothes, dance lessons, larger menu items when we go out, university savings, new glasses, driving lessons, a car, etc. She needs my shoulder to cry on. She needs me to tell her that I understand. She needs me to keep her on the path. She needs me to express that I love her every day, without condition.
Our children are always our children. They just grow. It is our job to keep their upbringing planter full of nutrients, water and sunshine!
Happy Birthday my darling, Paigey-Waigey! Momma loves you!
