(picture this exchange)
Other adults/parents - "How old are your daughters?"
Me - "Rachel will be 12 at the end of the month. Allison turns 13 on Tuesday."
Other adults/parents - "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" (followed by looks of sympathy and some snickering)
Me - (heavy sigh)
Is it REALLY going to be THAT bad?!? I am cautiously optimistic that we will survive these teenage years. I mean, my parents did. Their parents did. And so on and so on.
I am mentally preparing myself for the defiance and the testing of boundaries and the mood swings and the fact that I will know absolutely nothing anymore. But I'm also mentally preparing myself for the growing she will do and the friendships she will make and the relationships she will have and the countless ways that I know she will make me proud.
Happy 13th birthday, my Pookie! Here's to the teenage years! There will be tears (undoubtedly by both of us) both happy and sad. But we will survive!
(that picture is her doing cyber school in her room that was apparently too cold)