My baby girl is growing up, or I should say, she now considers herself a grown up. Hailey turned eighteen at the beginning of the summer. This was the day I looked forward to for so long. I love my daughter so much but I couldn’t wait for the day I no longer had to be responsible for her well being all the time. As a single mother sometimes the responsibility was overwhelming, I couldn’t wait until I wasn’t responsible for every decision, everything that happened or didn’t happen. I dreamed of when she would be more independent and make her own decisions. I longed for peace and quiet, a tidy home, watching what I want on TV.
Now that the time has come, much more quickly than I ever imagined it could and I want a do over! I want to go back and really enjoy each stage of her life because it passes so very quickly. I really had no idea that long before I was ready, she would be all grown up. Hailey works so much, is busy with friends, usually I only talk to her on the phone even though we live in the same house. I get up early in the morning and she comes in late at night.
I really wasn’t ready for this latest stage, as much as I thought I was, I’m not. I want to go school shopping again, I want to fix her hair, I want to cuddle on the couch. Today I heard a song by Trace Adkins called Then They Do, it’s about all the chaos of raising kids and wishing they would grow up, and then they do. The last two verses mad me cry
No more Monday PTA’s,
No carpools, or soccer games.
Your work is done.
Now you’ve got time that’s all your own.
You’ve been waitin’ for so long,
For those days to come.
Then they do, and that’s how it is.
It’s just quiet in the mornin’,
Can’t believe how much you miss,
All they do and all they did.
You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:
Then they do.
Why is it the only time my daughter listened to me was when I was wishing she would hurry up and grow up?