My Big Girl, My Baby Girl

When Michaela was two years old (and four weeks), she was suddenly promoted to big-kid status since Christian came along and interrupted any babyhood that she was in the middle of. She was automatically my big girl, and she handled the raise well, as far as I can remember. She was fairly independent, and loved to do things right alongside of me; I don't remember her complaining about the fact that someone else was occupying my lap, her rightful place before that someone else came along. 

Ever since then, I have had high expectations of her. I think of her, and have for many, many years, as older than she is at any given age. She has often acted older, and not necessarily in an overly sassy manner. Mature, I mean. 

The trouble is that I then get frustrated when she does things or says things that are out of the range of "acceptable" for where I have her in my head. She's still so young! I forget! And I shake my head and think to myself,"What was she thinking?!"

The truth is, what am I thinking?! While I count it a blessing that I can depend on her for a lot of things that some eleven-year-olds might not be ready for, I also need to count it a blessing that she still needs me as a mommy...she still needs a great deal from me: direction and teaching, tucking in at night, making her baked potatoes. (She says they taste so good when I do it. Who am I to argue? I don't do too many things well in the kitchen.) 

I was thinking today about all of the things that she does that make me proud. She has been working once a week for another mom, helping out with a toddler, while the mom tries to get some schoolwork done with her other three kids. She has been so sweet with many of the little kids at our church (all different ages), and the little girls, especially, adore her. She has offered to use her Christmas money to help someone else out who was having trouble with peer pressure. She tries to help Eliana with her schoolwork/memory work (sometimes Eliana is a cooperative learner...sometimes not). She is diligent about practicing the piano, and she is accomplishing a great deal this year. 

In general, I think she's a pretty wonderful young lady. And I thought you might like to know that we are going to work towards rearranging her room soon. It won't hurt anything, as Kara said, and it will be fun, as many others said. 

But I will have to help her clean it up before we can move any furniture around. (You can barely move a person around in there right now.) It seems like one thing that I have assuredly passed on to her is my ability to disasterize a bedroom. I also know how to clean one up, though, and so...even though she is so grown up in so many ways, tomorrow I am going to teach her how to clean her bedroom. Again. And likely not for the last time.

Because even though she's so big, she's still my baby girl.

Comments

[Kara]

She's beautiful on the inside and out! I can't wait to hear how the room turns out!