She is strong willed and fiercely independent and I admire her. I look at this creative, young lady that stands before me and see her wild spirit, her curious nature, her spirited self and as challenging as she can be sometimes, I try to fuel her fire, to let her be her.
She is at the crossroads of girlhood and entering the teenage years and all the wave of emotions that come with it. She is finding where she fits in the world, she is pushing boundaries and sometimes she gives me attitude and I sometimes find myself pushing right back, right or wrong.
After one of these episodes, I sat her down and we had a girl talk. I told her that there will likely be more of these moments when we disagree and that she will display her displeasure with big o'attitude. She said she didn't like it when we argued and I told her I didn't either, but that when we have these tense moments, she needs to remember that I love her, that even when we disagree, I love her and I love her spirit. I told her she will always be my baby and nothing she says will change how I feel about her. She hugged me tight and said, "I don't want to grow up." I told her I didn't want her to grow up either, but that we all do and that my job is to help guide her.
I want her to be free to express her frustrations, her emotions, her anger, her joy, her craziness and I want her to know that I will be here and that I will love her after all of it.
And I learn from her and grow as a mother myself and isn't that what it's about? I gave her life, but she and my little man have taught me so much about life. Happy 11th Birthday - she is and will always be my sweetpea.
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| My cousin took this photo of us when we were visiting in NZ
"The process of shaping the child....shapes also the mother herself. Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good, that she may teach primarily by her own humble daily example."- Elizabeth Elliot
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