Ok, she does not wear the crown to bed, but the eye mask, yes.I have never doubted from the moment of Lauren's arrival, that my mother had a hand in picking her out. It just something that as a mother I know. In many ways we are alike and in many ways we are different, but the one thing we have always been is close.
One of the ways we are alike, is this child is a night owl. Has been since day one. (Again another reason I believe my mother picked her out. She would NEVER send me a morning child, that would be cruel and unusual punishment, even for MY past bad deeds.) Lauren has finely tuned the practice of obstruct and delay when it comes to bed time. She practices her piano while I put Mark and Katie to bed and finishes her piano practice about the time those two are safely tucked in. Then she wants to "chat" or she wants to watch something on TV with me, in a nut shell she want to hang out with her mom, and get her mom's undivided attention. I don't blame her. And truth be told I like hanging out with her. I like learning about things she likes, I like telling her about things I like, I like hearing about her friends, I like laughing at stupid stuff on TV with her, I like knowing about what annoys her, I like planning things we are going to do together. I like being a part of her life.
Right now it's so much fun. At 9, excuse me almost 10, she still thinks I am "cool." She still wants to be my friend. She still cares about what I tell her. She still thinks I have good taste. She is not embarrassed by me. She wants to hang out with me.
I know its not going to last....I know in a few years I will not be as "cool" or "hip" or have such good taste. I know I will probably be an embarrassment, and hanging out with me will not be something she wants to do that often.
So I am trying to savor the moment while it lasts. Trying to build a foundation to sustain her through rocky teenage years, hoping that during those rough waters occasionally she will still want to hang out with her mom, that I will not be a complete embarrassment.
A foundation so that after she gets through those teenage years, she will recall that perhaps her mom knew more than she thought. A foundation for her life.
With any luck in 10 years or so, she will again think I am "cool," or "hip" or that I have good taste. She will want to have late night talks with me, watch stupid stuff on TV, ask my advice, tell me her problems, and let me be a part of her life.
So yes, in the quite moments of the night we are working on our future.
One of the ways we are alike, is this child is a night owl. Has been since day one. (Again another reason I believe my mother picked her out. She would NEVER send me a morning child, that would be cruel and unusual punishment, even for MY past bad deeds.) Lauren has finely tuned the practice of obstruct and delay when it comes to bed time. She practices her piano while I put Mark and Katie to bed and finishes her piano practice about the time those two are safely tucked in. Then she wants to "chat" or she wants to watch something on TV with me, in a nut shell she want to hang out with her mom, and get her mom's undivided attention. I don't blame her. And truth be told I like hanging out with her. I like learning about things she likes, I like telling her about things I like, I like hearing about her friends, I like laughing at stupid stuff on TV with her, I like knowing about what annoys her, I like planning things we are going to do together. I like being a part of her life.
Right now it's so much fun. At 9, excuse me almost 10, she still thinks I am "cool." She still wants to be my friend. She still cares about what I tell her. She still thinks I have good taste. She is not embarrassed by me. She wants to hang out with me.
I know its not going to last....I know in a few years I will not be as "cool" or "hip" or have such good taste. I know I will probably be an embarrassment, and hanging out with me will not be something she wants to do that often.
So I am trying to savor the moment while it lasts. Trying to build a foundation to sustain her through rocky teenage years, hoping that during those rough waters occasionally she will still want to hang out with her mom, that I will not be a complete embarrassment.
A foundation so that after she gets through those teenage years, she will recall that perhaps her mom knew more than she thought. A foundation for her life.
With any luck in 10 years or so, she will again think I am "cool," or "hip" or that I have good taste. She will want to have late night talks with me, watch stupid stuff on TV, ask my advice, tell me her problems, and let me be a part of her life.
So yes, in the quite moments of the night we are working on our future.
3 comments:
Oh that Lauren, I just love her. I love this post, reminds me of what I should be working on with my girls too! I have no doubt that she'll think you're cool again in 10 years. In the meantime, maybe just maybe I'll have a shot at being a cool aunt all the way through :) I still want her for a week this summer!!!
Very nice tribute to Lauren. so nice you can have the time together while she thinks you are cool.
Call me an optimist..but I think even through the teenage years she can still think you're cool..especially since you've done such a great job up to this point. You are blessed to have one another. I can learn a lot about this from you.
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