Cha-Cha-Cha Changes

Today, when we got home from the gym, I found this note posted to my door. It seems like an innocent enough note. Just a pink piece of paper with a chocolate candy taped to it and a lovely scripture, but it is a stark reminder that time is passing me by. My baby is growing up. She is a TWEEN. The mall is her favorite place as are the movies, going to Young Women's activities, and Claire's, at the mall, where she and her friends can buy 10 crappy items for 5 dollars like hot pink fingernail polish and green apple Lizzie McGuire perfume and eat curly fries and worry their mothers. Oh, and buy stickers that are on sale at said Claire's that say things that they do not even know what they mean. Like . . . If the Van is Rockin, . . . I will let you fill in the details. I had to explain to her and her aunt, who happens to be about the same age, what that meant. Me! We have had the talk, but well that was uncomfortable and they promptly threw it out. My husband and I briefly thought of putting it on someone's van as a joke but opted to be the good examples that we always are. What was that doing at a Claire's store anyway?

Girls in our church go from the Primary to Young Women's when they turn 12. This will be her first time at Girls Camp, which they can all go to in the summer with girls 12-18 and their adult leaders. It is not like she has never gone and stayed anywhere without me, but she is starting to take those steps into young adulthood. She is growing up. I still see her like this sometimes. Learning to let go is hard. Sometimes, I still feel young and can remember when I was doing all those things. I look in the mirror and can hardly believe who I see. I am a wife, a mother, I have responsibilities, my hair is turning GRAY. What has happened to me? It just seems like yesterday that I was cruising the beach with my friends, going to dances, camp, taking those baby steps into adulthood. My heart aches for that little baby of mine, but is so grateful to see the wonderful young woman/person that she is becoming. She tries to make good choices, is a friend to other girls, she is a joy to have in our family, and is becoming such a wonderful person. It is such a privilege to have her as a daughter.