My little Girl

Over the past couple of months Michelle has got me on edge. It's not because of her all to frequent whining about got getting to sit in the front seat of the car or having to go to bed at her assigned time. It's not because of her constant jabbering on about... well, most of the time, nothing at all. It is not the fact that she believes household rules apply to her only when she agrees with them, like keeping all food in the kitchen, not the living room or your bedroom. It's not even the fact that cleaning her room means shoving all her stuff under her bed.

She has got me on edge because she has started to loose the 'little' in the phrase 'little girl'. The way she dresses, the way she talks, the way she rolls her eyes at me when I say something stupid.... Sometimes I look at her and think "geez, she is becoming one of those.... those... TEENAGERS." I know she is only 11 years old. And she is still rather small in stature even compared to her peers. But it is becoming harder to look at her as my 'little' girl.

This weekend pretty much sealed my fate as the father of a ... well almost a 'young woman'. Michelle has really been interested in earning money so she can buy this 'gotta have' gadget. Last summer she wanted to mow the lawn so she could earn the money. She bugged us and bugged us and bugged us. I eventually gave in, reluctantly and let her try (walking behind her the whole time). She just was not quite big enough or strong enough to manage the mower safely and that was fine by me. She disagreed and never let it go. A couple of weeks ago I promised she would get another chance this year. This weekend she did, and she did a decent job at it. Sure she still misses a few spots. That takes some practice. Heck I miss some spots. The point here is that my daughter can now mow the lawn, pretty much on her own.

Now Michelle is really not one to dress up. Occasionally she will put on a skirt or 'skort'. She does not dress like a slob mind you, not like the boys. She generally looks neat and clean, if not matching. But Michelle flat out refuses to wear a dress.

Elementary school graduation is comming up next week. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of thing but Karen and I still want Michelle to look nice when she crossed the stage. After all this is one of those times it is appropriate to dress up just a bit. After no small amount of discorse, Michelle begrudgingly agreed she would dress up 'a little' but still, flat out refused to wear a 'stinkin dress'. So Sunday afternoon, Karen, Michelle and I went to the mall for lunch and to find a graduation outfit. Michelle had something specific in mind but we were having a hard time finding what she wanted. While browsing around the department store I saw, what I will describe, as an 'Austin Powers' dress. By that I mean a 70's looking dress. It has big pink polka-dots and a brown background and belt. Michelle really likes the 'hippy look' so we played it up... to make a long story short. Michelle is agreed to wear it to graduation. She really looks nice in the dress. (sniff sniff)

THEN after the dress.... Long ago Karen and I agreed that Michelle would have to wait til she was 13 ish before she would get her ears pierced. I am officially stating, for the record, that I agreed to let her have it done but under protest' (I need to maintain my over bearing father image after all). So while I wondered around in the tool department at Sears (a place you might find an overbearring father), Karen took Michelle to the earring store where they assaulted my daughter with medieval torture devices. resulting in a whole in each ear lobe. I don't know what changed my/our mind. I guess we think she is mature enough to take care of them and... well they will look nice with the dress ;-)

Oh, While I'm on the topic, one more thing happened this weekend. Saturday, after Michelle's Soccer game, where she scored by the way, Karen ran into the mother of one of the boys in Michelle's class at school. I missed the conversation but apparently the youngster has a crush on MY daughter. We will just have to see about that!

Seriously, It did strike me a little this weekend that I / we are moving into a new era of parenting. For the past 20+ years, we have always had a young child to worry about and do for. Now our youngest is quickly approaching the age of... well, an obnoxious teenager. The boys all went through this, obviously. And they all presented different but equally frustrating behavioral challenges. But a teenage Girl! I have another year or two I know (hope) but with any luck, all the stories of the stereotypical teenage girl are all greatly exaggerated and Michelle will let me keep at least a few of already sparse active hair follicles on my head.