What’s Playing on the iPod right now: “Fresh” – Kool & the Gang
What I am reading now: “The Writer magazine” – August 2011
My daughters are not pictured.
I am the mother of two teenage girls. Yes, say a prayer for me now. My girls have gotten to the place where I can see the child they used to be merging into the women they will become. But until they get there, I still need to guide and protect them. Sometimes the protecting thing drives me crazy!
This past weekend, I dropped my 15-year-old and her friend at Sandhills (a multi purpose outdoor shopping center). They were going to the 7:20 p.m. movie and hang out with friends. My daughter was instructed to call me when the movie was over. At about 9:30 I still hadn’t heard from her. Figuring the movie should be over I called her cell phone. No answer. I texted. No response. I wait a few minutes and dialed her again. Still no answer. This is where I freak out.
I don’t know if its my own oppressive childhood or my over active imagination that takes me to a crazy place. A place where an unaswered cell phone means your child has been abducted or hurt or any number of foul 11 o’clock news worthy events. It makes me want to keep my girls close and not let them out of my sight.
I know, I know. They are getting older and I have to allow them to grow. As my daughter reminded me when I picked her up, “I’m not doing anything wrong.” And she wasn’t. The movie ran longer than I thought and her phone was on silent in the theater.
Still, when I look at her and see the young woman taking shape in her features I can’t help but also see the toothless grin of my baby. And it’s hard to let your baby go.
Peace,
Michelle