Entering the Preteen Years #NaBloPoMo

The hundred-day countdown began Saturday and it’s finally starting to hit me: Our oldest daughter will be 12 — an “official” preteen —  97 days from now. Last year around this time, I wrote about how Briyana changed my life when she was born and now, I’m having to face the fact that my baby isn’t a baby anymore. She’s a moody, independent, obnoxious young woman who is trying to assert her place in the world and I’m in awe of her intellect, beauty, and maturity.

We got her school photos back last week and Barry and I were both taken aback. I was speechless. She is naturally and unbelievably gorgeous… she looks like she should be getting her driver’s license and she’s not even old enough to watch PG-13 movies yet! I find myself just staring at her sometimes, remembering how amazing she’s always been (until lately when she’s made me want to choke her more times than I care to publicly admit LOL!) and how NOT ready I am for her to grow up.

All the worries start at 12.

That’s when we have to start considering at what age she can start wearing makeup at her own discretion, how old she’ll have to be to date, when to kick up “the talks” to the next notch, the best way to guide her into learning how to make good decisions outside of our presence, praying that we’ve taught her well enough to think for herself in the face of peer pressure, and wondering what’s going on inside that mind she isn’t so quick to let us inside of anymore. That’s the age we have to rethink and reapply our means of discipline, redistribute household responsibilities, and contemplate when we’ll allow her to venture out or stay home alone for short periods of time (how about never lol).

It’s a rough age for her, but will she ever have any idea how rough it is on us? I wonder if she’ll ever realize how much we plan, worry, pray, hope, and compromise to do what we believe is best for her long-term. I am so proud of her and I imagine every year will become a bit more difficult for me to experience, especially as her younger siblings begin to steadily creep up on these ages themselves. o_O <— That’s my twitchy-eye face, which is what I assume I’ll look like after they’re all grown. Briyana is so stubborn (I have NO idea where she gets that from) and so ambitious. She’s talented like her mama and driven like her daddy. It’s my prayer that she keeps her feet on the straight and narrow, focused on the purpose God has for her as she overcomes the obstacles that are placed in her path… and that she always knows she has two parents who love her, are always here for her, and who will never forget what it was like to be her age.

#NaBloPoMo:

For the entire month of November, I’m participating in National Blog Posting Month. Read more —>