Growing Up




So over the weekend, Beatrix, Patrick, and I did "Yoga and  Pint" at Lake Monster, which was totally awesome and comes highly recommended (we'll meet you there sometime!) When Beatrix and I went out afterwards she was commenting about how much she likes the song "Wavin' Flag" which was part of the playlist, especially the line "When I get older, I will be stronger, they'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag." And that's pretty much where she is right now in her life.

Last night we saw Lady Bird as part of the FilmNorth Spirit Awards screenings (another thing you should join me for). I'm incredibly proud of myself that I saw a movie about a sometimes rough relationship between a mother and a daughter without bursting into tears. It's a great movie, but one that's really got me thinking about mother/daughter relationships and how fraught they become during the teen years. I'm sometimes amazed my mom and I made it through those years, and NOT looking forward to them with Beatrix.

And then tonight was the school talent show, and Beatrix and her friend Meara were amazing in it in a clown routine. (Really, it was a greta talent show all told). And suddenly I remembered when she started doing the talent show and how little she was, and how big the big kids were, and now she's a big kid. But not too big to tell me how happy she was to sit on her friend Natalie's lap for an hour last night at circus (a middle school girl who she idolizes), or give me a big hug, or tell me her secrets and how much she loves me.

I may or may not have made her pinkie swear on the drive home tonight that, when we are facing those teen disagreements, that we both work hard to remember back to these moments.

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