Is it true that today I have a 13-year-old daughter? Yes, my only daughter has finally hit the teenage years. Last night I took her and a friend of hers to the mall. She wanted to spend her birthday money and eat at the food court. We walked around, going from store to store. Then she said that she had to use the bathroom.
We began to walk down this long corridor that leads to the bathrooms. I had this instant flashback in my mind. Several years ago I had gone down this same corridor, only my daughter wasn’t walking. She was riding in a double stroller. She was in back, her baby brother was in front and my oldest son was tearing down the hallway. I could remember calling out to him to slow down and wait for me.
The mall used to mean pushing my daughter in the stroller, shopping at the Baby Gap and putting her on the miniature train ride that went around the tracks twice. Now it means walking a little bit behind her so it looks like she isn’t with her mom, shopping for funky socks and jewelry, and hearing her say “That’s so lame” when we pass the train she used to ride on.
When we sat down at the food court to eat (yes, I was allowed to eat at the same table) I couldn’t help but look at her and feel so thankful. She is becoming a very beautiful young lady. She saw another friend of hers at another table so she went over to talk. This table was filled with a bunch of other girls that she didn’t know. She didn’t care. She wasn’t intimidated at all to go say hi to her.
I was carefully watching her, sucking on her straw and her head flying back as she laughed. She used to be so shy that she wouldn’t even talk to her own grandparents. Now she is Miss Social Butterfly, right now screaming outside with a bunch of friends who came over today to celebrate my little girl’s birthday. I guess she will always be that, my little girl.
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