Reflections

From the time she was a year old, my oldest daughter has LOVED to watch her reflection in windows. As a toddler she spent much of her time in front of our sliding glass doors performing little dances, tilting her head back and forth and watching herself whenever possible out of the corner of her eye. You could hold a whole conversation with her without her ever looking at you. She was absolutely fascinated by her reflection. Doors and windows at home, in stores, at grammy's house.........didn't matter where you were-- if there was a reflection, Rachel was performing for it. It was so very cute and everyone commented on it, all the time.
For the past year or maybe even two, I haven't noticed her doing it. In fact, I had forgotten about that cute little habit from her toddlerhood.
For the past week or so I have caught her several times making faces and singing into the glass. This evening while we talked about her day she didn't look at me once, prefering instead to converse while watching herself over my shoulder. Such a simple thing which brought back so many wonderful memories. "Hit it!"

A Conversation to Remember

I had a conversation with my son yesterday. It was our first real back-and-forth conversation. Wow! Do I feel good about it. *smile* Here is the content:
I had called my mom. He said hello to her and then, after I hung up, he put his hand flat on his forehead (with his thumb and index finger sticking up), turned his head right and left and said, "Whe Me?" I said, "Grammy went home. She is at her house." He said, "pa?" I said, "Grampa is at his house, too." He then stuck his hand in his back pocket (he had overalls on). He smiled and said, "Paw". I said, "Yes, you have a lot of pockets in those pants, don't you?" He stuck one hand in his back pocket and the other in his front pocket. He looked up at me and said, "Uh, oh, stu-" I replied, "your hands are stuck?" To which he laughed and pulled them out and yelled, "tah dah!!" Too funny that kid! Makes me feel good to know that his language is coming along....Rachel was a late talker, too, so I never really worried about Ben, but it is nice to be able to interact verbally with him. *Satisfied deep breath* How long do you think I have until I am verbally sparing with him?? LOL

Yes, I know, Mom

Rachel. Age 6.5 and she runs circles around me. Tonight we read the Magic School Bus Goes to the Moon. She just got it from her Scholastic Book Club. In the book, Phoebe's dad goes on the magic school bus with them and is enjoying the lack of gravity on the moon. He is jumping all around and such. "Rachel", I said, "gravity is....." "I know, Mom-- gravity is the invisible force that holds us to the earth." Of course she knew that. What was I thinking? Silly me.

Snickers

Snickers scratched at the door to go out today----I am taking it as a victory. Hooray!

Right Before My Very Eyes

My daughter is growing up so quickly! Its funny how you don't really notice it from day-to-day but then she does something and it stops you in your tracks when you realize how big she is. This morning she did something mundane........she skipped by me and reached up to the top of the tv shelf to get the remote. When did she get tall enough to do that on her own? She didn't hesitate....didn't look around for a chair or a stool, just knew that she could do it, no biggie. I blinked and looked at her. Like really looked at her. She is growing taller and a bit more slender. She is reading up a storm and her new favorite show to watch with us in the evenings is How It's Made. She enjoys school and really likes math. She gets good marks on her spelling tests and like to play those hand-jive games (Lemonade -clap, clap, clap- crunchy ice- clap, clap, clap-) She is such a beautiful girl.........if only she was a neat freak! *wink*

My kids call her "Tor"

She is a special girl in my life. She is in her teens and has the whole world at her feet. She can sing, she plays the guitar, she is in the honors track at school and she is gorgeous. I love her as if she was my own. I wish I lived closer so that I could go to her games and watch her perform at school. She loves my kids as much as I love her and I feel blessed that she is comfortable enough in my house to come up and stay overnight to visit.
There is one thing, though, that makes me nervous for her... but seeing as she isn't mine, I don't know that it is my place to say anything. She loves the computer (and texting on her phone LOL). When she comes up she goes on the computer at night...or whenever she can sneek away........and it makes me nervous. I find myself fighting an internal battle over whether I should tell her so, or just let it be as I'm not her mom. (Sgt. Safety is on the job, I'm sure!)
Here is what I would like to say to her: You are still young, but look like you could be older. I know that at your age you are on the verge of soooo much, that life is getting interesting and there are boys and friends and that being older is very appealing, but I wish that I could tell you that with all the good out there, there is also a lot of bad. Peer pressure bad. Smoking, drinking, drugs and sex. With the web, it just adds another dimension. She interacts with people in far off places. She is in love with a guy in another state named Raf or Rex or some such thing. I pray that it is on the up-and-up and he is a regular teen just like her, but you just never know. Honestly. You never know. She showed me his pic, but how do you know it is his pic? How do you really know that it isn't a pic of some slimy guy's kid brother or nephew? You really don't.
I post to a mother's board. We actually had a woman on there replying to threads and posting about her "impending" birth and all about her other children when someone else came along and recognized her. Turns out she wasn't pregnant, was posting pictures of the kids she babysat, and none of it was real! She was faking not only her family, but pregnancy! Blew me away, but it does happen....alll the time.
I know that my girl takes precautions like not posting her correct name, age, or town, but she needs to think that the other kids are, too! It makes me crazy. Ugh! What am I going to do when my own kids reach this age??? I spend enough time just worrying about Tor~!
Then there are the boys. Boys are nasty little hormone machines at this age and with her looking so beautiful and wearing the low-cut shirts and all, I just worry for her. There is no need to grow up so fast. The next ten years of her life are have the potential to be fantastic- the years where she will make friends, become independent and start to plan her future and realize her dreams. I just hope and pray that she believes in herself enough, that she knows how special she really is, that she won't bow to the pressure of others to do drugs, get drunk or screw around just because a boy says she should or else it means she doesn't love him. Tor, I am telling you, if a boy says that then set him free because he doesn't love YOU enough to wait for you to be ready. I know you don't want to hear it, but you are still young. Enjoy it. Rejoyce in it. Have fun with it, but be true to yourself and your own values.
OK, I am ranting and need to reel myself in. She is just so precious that after I see her it keeps me up nights worrying for her. But then I think that she IS a smart girl who has a great set of parents who have done a fantastic job raising her and I think- hey, she knows what is going on. Sgt. Safety has taught her well and she knows the score. She will be OK.
I love you, Tor.

My Guy

I love my husband. On Monday he got reading glasses. Apparently his eyes have been getting worse for some time but he has not been letting on. Anyhoo, now he has readers. That evening after dinner, we sat together at the table after the kids were excused. He put on his glasses and flipped through a magazine- actually seeing the words this time. As I gazed at him in his glasses, I was suddenly struck by feelings of (now, now) comfort and stability. (Not what you expected me to say, was it? LOL) Seriously, who would have thought that this man that I met when we were just teenagers, would be the same one still sitting across the table from me as we start to enter "middle age". We have worked hard together, built a house together, work as a team to raise our kids, laughed, cried and loved and still, just by catching a peek at him, I can feel contented in my life. How special is that??

... And, man! Does he look good in those glasses or what??!

vjffyr4vgfrfffedhsxu (post-script added by Ben LOL)