Watching Her Grow Up

This past Tuesday, she walks into the library to drop off an application to work a volunteer shift. I stayed in the van watching her grow up before my eyes. She carries herself with sweetness and confidence and maturity. 

Saturday, as she's leaving for archery class, we hug and discover that it's official - she's taller than I am. I look up at her and we both smile, hers is a subtle-but-proud "YES!" kind of smile. Mine is more of a bittersweet acknowledgement, but mostly happy for her, because I know she loves it. We have a deal, the kids and I, that as they grow taller than me, they'll always look out for their little mom.

She is hungry for more learning, more experience, more insight. Mature beyond her years, yet such a kid at heart, she asks us things that keep us on our toes and awe us with her thinking. She is driven - always writing, always thinking. She cooks. She creates. She runs around and climbs trees. She reads voraciously. She writes for one of the top writing websites on the Internet. She teaches herself guitar.

This morning, I hear THIS SONG on my iPod and get weepy listening to it as I eat breakfast with my kids. I loved that song growing up - Peter Cetera is one of my all-time favorites. Listening to that song as a parent? Good luck not crying. It's upbeat and all, but (*sniff sniff*) it'll get you. 

So, I take my beautiful daughter to her first volunteer shift. She got herself up and ready on her own, so excited for this very grown up responsibility and opportunity. She has her hair combed beautifully and she is wearing her "Self-Rescuing Princess" T-shirt, mismatched socks (she started doing that long before it was a trendy thing to do), and pink Chucks.

It started snowing hard as we took this picture

Mark stops in after his morning shift at the hospital to see how she's doing. She is shelving DVDs when she looks up and sees him, smiles, and says, "Hi! This is fun!"

She is growing up before my eyes - tall, mature, hilarious, confident, beautiful, sarcastic, smart. She plays violin with grace, kicks butt with her black belt in tae kwon do, giggles hysterically when horsing around with her brother, reasons with insight, cracks jokes with quick timing, writes with talent beyond her years.

And she just melts me. She is loving and compassionate, witty and smart, insightful, passionate, and strong. She thinks things through, develops her own feelings and beliefs on weighty matters, and takes action - raising awareness, donating money, writing to legislators.

Celebrating her first day of volunteering with lunch out

She is growing up before my eyes. She is wonderful and good and amazing. She makes the world a better place.

She is good to her family, her dog, her friends, strangers, children, animals. She is my daughter and my friend. And I constantly feel so over-the-moon lucky that I get to be her mom and watch her grow up right before my eyes.