-Giving the Girl Child some lovins before she heads off on a sleepover. She says, "You smell good. You always do when you kiss me goodnight". I ask her what it is that I smell like. She says, "Home".
-If you have/had a teenager, then you get why sometimes it seems like the very act of you breathing is offensive to them. So you can understand why the following exchange with the Girl Child blew me away.
Last night as we are waiting on our ride to her Back to School Night, she randomly says, "You know how a lot of kids feel like their mom, like, yells at them all the time? And, like, doesn't get them and stuff?". I say, "Yes, they probably do". She says, "Well, I think you're really nice and you make me feel like you care about me and that I do a lot of stuff right and make good decisions. So I wanted you to know. Oh. My. Gosh. And now you're crying! See, this is why I can't tell you stuff like that".
I have a feeling the kid's going to hire private security to keep me 100 ft away from her when she graduates to spare her the mortification of being seen with an emotional train wreck. That's okay. The "I Loveheart emoticJulia" t-shirt emblazoned with her senior picture on it that I will be wearing will get the word out. wink emoticonJulia" t-shirt emblazoned with her senior picture on it that I will be wearing will get the word out. Blessed every day to be her mom.
-The Girl Child emerges from her room this morning in a pair of hip hugging shorts and a shirt she has folded under to be a crop top. There is about six inches of midriff showing. I somehow resist my first impulse to rip a living room curtain from the rod and throw it over her. This is our exchange:
Me: "That is not going to work. You need to go back into your closet and try again"
GC: "But I have to wear this. All the 8th grade girls are having a protest today"
Me: "What are they protesting? Pole dancing not being a unit in P.E.?"
GC: "I don't even know what that means"
Me: "Which tells me that Daddy and I are effectively doing our job. Go. Change."
Pardon me whilst I go and pluck 26 newly sprouted grey hairs.
-There are an infinite number of reasons why I admire the Girl Child, and the fact that she has 100x more self-confidence that I did at her age is just one of them. Now that she is in middle school, I asked her if she wanted to learn how to put on make up and shave her legs. She declined both offers, saying she doesn't need make up, and her blond hairy legs don't bother her a bit. I told her the decision was totally up to her and that I only started doing both when I was her age because I was getting interested in boys. Her reply? "Yeah, well, they must have been a lot more mature in middle school back in the 80s because there is no way I'm going out with any of the boys at my school". Love. Her. Guts.
-Waiting for the kids after school in the circle drive, and I have the music in the car cranked up to match my ebullient mood. The Girl Child is the first to arrive and says, "OH. MY. GOSH. You need. To turn. That down. RIGHT NOW!!!". (My experience with having a tween thus far is that they believe their parents are both hard of hearing and incapable of digesting spoken sentences more than two words at a time.) I refuse, and she exits the vehicle because, although (as I point out to her) no one can see her through the tinted windows in the back, "EVERYONE knows. That you're. MY MOM!!". She tosses, "You. Are. So. EMBARRASSING!!" over her shoulder as she leaves. And so it begins...
-A sign that your sixth grader (along with the rest of the fam) needs to up their game now that Mommy has gone back to work:
(entering the Girl Child's room)
Me: "Jules, good grief, why don't you run the vacuum in here?"
Girl Child: (stares blankly at me) "I don't know where we keep the vacuum"
Clearly, we have a ways to go here.
-At age ten, the Girl Child has beauty, brains, and many talents and abilities. One of them is signing "The Star Spangled Banner" in seven different keys. At the same time. Loudly.
-Listening to the Girl Child proudly play her Beginning Strings pieces on her violin for me warms my heart. It also reminds me that a good parent can keep an encouraging smile convincingly plastered on their face even while their ears are bleeding.
-The Girl Child came home from school one day and proudly announced, "Today at school, we created class jobs for ourselves. I am The Organizer. I make sure that everyone puts everything away EXACTLY where it is supposed to go on the shelves and in the cubbies, and I keep everything organized and neat". If you know me well, you know why this made my uterus ache with pride!
-Answered the phone earlier to hear a fourth grade boy's voice say, "Hello Mrs. Rushing! May I speak to your daughter please?" My whaaa? Who? I stammered something along the lines that she "wasn't available". He has called back four more times in the last two hours. Apparently I needed to clarify with the lad that she is not available for at least SIX MORE YEARS! I am soooooo not ready for this.
-Challenge of the day: replace one of the Girl Child's pet mice that is now running on the big wheel in the sky, and hope that she doesn't notice the difference when she gets home from school. Anyone want to place odds?
-GC: "We made gingerbread men ornaments today at school, but I made a ginger-fashionista instead. She has high heels, a pink dress and is covered in glitter" *mommy sparkle tear*"
-Snippet of convo from the family at dinner:
GC: "And then on Victorious, Tori blah blah blah, and on Ant Farm blah blah, and on Austin and Ally..."
Hubby to me: "I think she's watching too much Disney Channel"
Me: "It's 5 degrees outside. What do you want from me?"
Hubby: "Good point. Carry on."
-Quite the moment of maternal pride. The Girl Child has been under my careful tutelage for years honing her bargain-hunting acumen. Took her to one of my fave discount stores in search of a blouse for me. She asks the specs of the hunt, prowls and comes up with a blouse in the exact shade I want with the dept. store tag still on it: $100, our price: $3 *sparkle tear* Well done young samaurai, well done!
-Girl Child told her dad she wanted to see a movie that was scary. He turned on "Poltergeist" for her. He doesn't see a problem, and was fairly amazed by my ability to run the 18 ft from the kitchen sink to the TV in three steps.
-GC helped BC do his math homework and reading, signed his homework sheet, and put everything back in his backpack. Man, I love that girl.
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