Her Teenage Era

I remember this day...

so very well. Her favorite dress, her favorite American Girl doll, posing with a smile bigger than her face, all on her most favorite day. Actually, if I'm being completely transparent she hasn't ever been fond of her actual birthday because the idea of growing up never really sat well with her. And I can identify. Maybe she "gets it" more than her peers. Life is hard. It's beautiful, but she has seen a lot of "hard."

And I knew as soon as I was snapping this picture it would happen sooner rather than later.

I tried with everything I could think of to stop it. Well not stop it obviously, but slow it all down. All the signs were there: the makeup, long FaceTime chats with friends, taking longer to shop for the perfect outfit, and trying all the latest gadgets & potions on her hair, skin, and nails. And now she’s just become downright independent despite all my best efforts. She can easily out bake me & out cook me. She's tech savvy, she’s learning another language and guitar, all while mastering all her regular studies. Her teachers reiterate what I know all too well. She’s bright, articulate, and quite gifted.

There’s no stopping her. I can’t even slow her down at this point.

And when I sit back and really think about it, I know she is undoubtedly growing and thriving and evolving into a beautiful human, full of God-given potential, and a drive to succeed, that would put Dolly to shame.

She didn’t ask for an American Girl this year.

I tried to stop it.

I'd pull them out for her younger sister complete with our many tea cups, doll brushes, & fancy dresses and say, "Hey, come on! Want to join?" But, inevitably she had more pressing matters to tend to.

Sometimes, I look at her & it’s like that scene from ‘Father of the Bride’. You know the one where he’s talking to his newly engaged daughter and she instantly transforms back in time to her innocent, school-aged self? Honestly, that’s me lately. Just completely stupefied as to how we got here.

So very quickly.

But it’s ok. We held on as long as we could. We had ALL the tea parties. Some so fancy, they would have made the Queen nod in aprroval. There were always delectable treats that we spent entirely too long creating just to scarf them down like the very un-regal folks we actually are. They were all invited, of course. The whole American Girl gang. Her favorite girl would rotate often but she was always partial to Lea & the other girls who looked more like herself. Lea is adventurous, has a pesky older brother, and loves to take photos. I saw the resemblance, most assuredly.

When I hear her speak and watch her do all the things she enjoys, my heart bursts with pride and wants to sob all at once. She can already command the attention of an entire room and she has no clue why.

But nevertheless, the time has come to relinquish some of the more youthful activities and see what this beautiful, artistic, and thoughtful daughter of mine…will set off to do.

And if 14 means everything that Grace is… then I’m here for it.