Parenting a preteen girl can be so challenging at
times. More to come on that subject…but
for today: having my preteen girl is such a blessing. Monday night my to-do list was packed-down to
the minute, and to make it even more challenging, Nathan was working out of
town that night and wouldn’t be able to help with the duties needing to be done
at home. Fun stuff. Fortunately I don’t
have many days like this, and at the end when all is done, there is a nice
sense of accomplishment. And gratitude
that it’s over and that I made it out with everyone still in one piece.
I had one child’s dance class, parent teacher conferences at
the middle school (which is show up at your convenience and stand in line for
each teacher your child has. It’s a bit annoying for someone like me who likes
to know I will be starting my conferences at 7pm and I will finish at 7:43pm.
But I completely understand why they do it this way-and actually it IS better
than trying to schedule 5 different conferences!) I also had to fit in feeding
everyone, bathing my youngest two and getting everyone in bed on time. Yes, getting everyone in bed on time IS on
the daily schedule. It’s a must. Not necessarily for them. It’s a must-that’s worth repeating. Just for the record, I know that I CAN let my
little two go to bed without a bath on busy, daddy-less nights and they won’t
be damaged. This does happen here. They
had school the next morning so a bath was imperative.
Back to the story…I had planned on cooking dinner earlier in
the day and just warming it up when it came time to feed everyone. However, after exercise class, errands,
groceries, cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator (LONG OVERDUE) so that I
could put the groceries away, I ran out of time to cook. And, there’s always Sonic, right?
After dance class, the girls and I grabbed dinner at the
drive thru and ate it in the car on the way home. After getting them settled in at home,
explaining again for the 257th time the “Rules When Mom is Gone,” I
left the oldest in charge and headed off to conferences.
The line for the one teacher I was most anxious to see (Middle School
Math-EEK!!) was also the one EVERY other parent in the building needed to visit
with as well. I was smart though and
thought I’d just zip around to the other 4 conferences first, since their lines
were short, and by the time I was finished with them the crowd at the Math teacher
would be non-existent and I’d breeze on through! Yep. Didn’t quite go as I planned. Shocking. I was now last in that long line.
I finished the conferences a happy mom and proud of my
first-year middle schooler. All A’s
& 1 B (sheesh, that middle school Math!! We're totally happy with the B though!)
Up next on the agenda was the bathing of the babes, putting them all to
bed and then cleaning up the messes in the kitchen and living room-but just
ever so slightly. The Mr. was not coming
home so I was off the hook there.
When I arrived home, breathing in deeply trying to catch my
second (or eighth) wind to finish the tasks at hand, I entered into what was
quite possibly the closest thing to Heaven on Earth. The two littles heard me come in and came
running to greet me. They were BATHED!
There’s no sweeter smell! Especially when someone else does it! And yes, I did smell… to make sure they had
not just sat playing in a tub of water.
They smelled glorious. Their hair had been blow-dried and brushed. They were in their pajamas. I was overjoyed. As I pushed past them to find my big girl so
that I could bow down at her feet in gratitude, I notice that my kitchen is
clean. And so is the living room. My duties awaiting me had been done, every one. I can’t even come close to explaining in
words how excited, grateful, relieved, proud and in love with my daughter I was
at that moment. She’s awesome. Having a preteen is THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD!!!! (remind me tomorrow that I said that.)
As I was expressing to her all of these afore-mentioned
praises, she interrupts me to say “Is THIS going ‘above and beyond’?” Her daddy
told her one way that she could show responsibility and maturity (the
characteristics that must be in place for her to “FINALLY” get a cell phone
like “ALL OF HER OTHER FRIENDS!”) was by going above and beyond her normal,
expected responsibilities. So, there was
a motive. But I’m totally okay with
that!
As we are entering the preteen years, there are so many stresses, worries, insecurities as a parent...but then there are also days like this that I am so thankful to be blessed with a preteen girl.
