My baby girl turns 10!

Today my baby girl is 10 years old. She awoke me this morning by coming into my room and announcing "I'm TEN!" I pried my eyes open to see her beaming face and outstretched arms; then I held out my arm for her to jump in which she did without hesitation. She let me hug and love on her for several minutes as we lay there together....she is still my baby girl!

Those who know me well know that I am not a big party planner; well actually, I don't mind the planning. It's the decorating and cutesy stuff I don't do. I'm not into fluff. I don't do themed parties with matching plates, napkins, and cups. I don't have special party games themed to match the party. To me it seems such a waste. I guess I'm too pragmatic--I hate to spend money on such things. Honestly, I don't think the kids really care either. But a "10-year-old" birthday is a "party birthday" in our home; so this year, I had to plan a party.

Yes, we had her party this evening--during the Super Bowl. (Wasn't that brilliant?) While millions of people were tuning into the biggest game of the year, I was here with eight 9-and 10-year-old girls painting wooden sea horses and making bead bracelets. After that, the girls made dinner which they were very happy to do and proud of themselves for doing it as well. They made tacos and did it ALL themselves--browned the meat, cut the tomatoes and black olives, shredded the cheese and lettuce, put it all into bowls--all of it. (I was only there to hand them utensils or things they needed) They worked very well together.

(By the way, this is something you can do with 10-year-old girls. You could never, however, even consider doing this with 10-year-old boys!!)

The girls were wonderful to have in our home! They giggled and encouraged one another. They chased each other with a Barbie stamper. They cleaned up after themselves (again something that does not happen with 10-yo boys). They watched excitedly as Elaine opened each present.
And at the end of the evening, Elaine was exhausted. It was a fun, special day for her!

Throughout my life, on MY birthday, my mom would (at some point) re-tell the story of my birth.... "Thirteen years ago today...Twenty-one years ago today...Forty years ago today, I was in the hospital holding the most beautiful, perfect baby I'd ever seen. It had been the hottest week of the entire summer. I'd sit in front of the window air conditioner reading my book to keep cool....When it came time to for me to go to the hospital, I thought your dad was going to have a wreck...." And on and on. She still does it. Honestly, she'll probably continue telling that story every year for the rest of her life. And honestly, I hope she does. It was good hearing those stories as a kid. I think it gave my siblings and myself a sense of belonging--a sense of specialness.

Now, I find myself doing the same thing with my children. So tonight as I tucked my "big-double-digit-girl" into bed, it was my turn to crawl into bed with her. As I did, I found myself saying, "Ten years ago tonight, I was laying in a hospital bed holding the most beautiful, perfect baby girl....."

Happy Birthday, Big Girl!