I woke up this morning with a start. I don’t know what made me think of it then, but my breath caught for just a moment when I realized my kids are growing way to fast. Maybe it’s because summer break begins for them this weekend and that means I will only have “teenagers” for kids. My youngest is going into 6th grade at the young age of 11(she turns 11 just before school starts), my middle daughter will be entering middle school and my oldest will be entering high school. I think that is where the breath caught. High School. WOW! High School!!!
I remember those years like they were yesterday. I remember thinking how out of touch my parents were, yet I feel so in touch with what my daughter will be going through. Although I bet she may see it a bit differently. I know the time has come and she will start spreading her wings even more now. She is going to want to fly. She is going to want to go to the movies with just her friends, and the mall and the beach and dare I say….parties. I think these are the things that scare me most. What if something happens to her? How do I let her grow while still keeping her safe? We have talked about sex and drugs and drinking with her since she was little. She “knows” everything she needs to know to be safe. But knowing these things and being exposed to these things is so different. How will she handle it? Will she stick with what we taught her? Will she venture off in a direction we don’t want her to venture in? Will she test the waters? Now I know why my mom was so over protective. But being over protective doesn’t help a child grow. It certainly kept me safe, but also naive and I don’t want that for my kids. I struggle with finding the balance of wanting to protect my “babies” from everything, while letting them spread their wings and grow. These thoughts plaque me. I can’t pretend they are my little babies anymore. I have 3 beautiful, smart, strong, young women growing every day right before my eyes. How do mother’s cope with this? I guess I will just have to take it one day at a time and hope that everything I have taught them, will stick.
One thing I know that has stuck is nails. They love doing their nails just as much as I do. Sometimes I just want to do my nails alone since it is a release of tension for me. But now I realize these are my moments with my girls. They sit there and do their nails with me and talk and talk and talk. We have had some great conversations over nails, I imagine these conversations will continue to get more interesting as they get older. I try to never be surprised, I try to make my advice count. Sometimes it isn’t just them I am advising, I have somehow become the advisor for my oldest daughters friends as well. So maybe the key for me will be the nails. Keep them polishing and it keeps them talking, and talking is a great thing. There will never be TMI (Too Much Information) that my kids can share with me. So why don’t we get to the polish then?
Today’s NOTD is China Glaze TMI. This one was not as holographic as I had hoped. It is definitely holorgraphic, but more so outside than inside and even more so in direct sunlight. Too bad – because this is such a pretty color. I just wish it was just a bit more holographic than it is. The first two pictures were taken outside in direct sunlight.
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