Today, I am OLD!

My baby girl is 14 today!

(sniff, sniff!)

I'm feeling very old and wrinkled today.
(Anyone got any "old lady cream" on them?)

As I look around at the majority of my old friends and high school classmates, most of them are either unmarried, newlyweds, or have very young families. A good number of them could call my kid to come and babysit theirs! (hint, hint) When they were all preparing their college applications and picking out prom dresses, I was changing diapers and working 2 jobs to pay for my apartment whilst I finished my senior year. I did miss a lot of events, but I don't regret it. It was just "stuff," and it certainly wasn't the end of the world.

I've often felt sorry for some of these people, mostly because they missed a lot of that quick growing up that I did. A lot of people that I used to know as friends, ditched me after my daughter was born. They were apparently "too cool" to hang around someone who was so matronly now. I chalked it up to their loss, but frankly, I've never gotten over that hurt they caused me then. I have never blamed my child for things other people felt I lost out on, because I never missed it. I was too busy with important things, like seeing my baby's first smile, watching her crawl for the first time, and helping her take her first steps, all before college even started that fall. No one I knew had the joy of such miracles in their life!

The DIVA goes to high school in the fall. She will carry with her a group of friends, some of which she'll retain until graduation, some that will fade and be replaced a few times along the way. I'm going to be the youngest mom of them all. Her friends have come to know that, even though this is a fact and that I'm pretty cool, they can't pull any crap with me! I am more than happy to be on the level with them and be their friend, but I will ALWAYS be the parent first. Most of them are quite satisfied with this, a few are not so much....those are the ones I worry about. Those are the ones who are most like I was back all those years ago. ;)

As I watch my sleeping angel baby, who used to be so tiny but who's now taking up a king-size bed, I see how far she's come...how far we've both come. It's amazing to see how beautiful and spunky and sweet she's become. The DIVA never ceases to test my patience, but she's become a professional apologizer in her own right. ;) The past 14 years have been the best of my life, and I wouldn't change them for anything.



*Totally off topic....When we went shopping for this dress for The DIVA's 8th Grade Promotion Dance, SHE picked this one out herself. It bears a similarity to the dress that I wore to my own 8th grade dance. Mine was also black & white with spaghetti straps - black with white polka dots, as a matter of fact. If I dug out the photo and showed it to her, she may very well die of embarassment, you know. ;)