The Tween Years

So many times throughout the day I am reminded that my daughter is a 'Tween".  She is on the verge of becoming a teenager, but still has so much of the little girl-ness that I adore.  The sighs, groans, eye rolling, or feet stomping  are daily reminders that she is involved in that internal struggle of teen vs. little kid.

Yesterday was a very tween day. There was lots of pouting and mumbling.  I do my best to ignore it unless it becomes disrespectful.  This is a huge exercise in patience.  It is the marathon of patience. At bedtime I was reminded that she is still a little girl. She had lost her tooth earlier in the day and was ready to tuck her tooth into her tooth pillow after applying her lotion and brushing her hair while humming in the mirror.  It struck me as such a tween moment. I tucked her in and she asked, "Mom, are you the tooth fairy?"  I decided it was time to be honest since this was something she hinted towards often these days. "Yes, Abby.  I am".  She gasped and her mouth opened wide.  "How do you do it?  How do you get to all the houses every night???".

Tears stung my eyes and my throat got all lumpy.  My little girl, my almost young lady...what a juxtaposition.  The tears were for the innocence of this question. The tears were for the internal struggle I know she is experiencing in wanting to be little and grown at the same time. The tears were for the humility I felt realizing that she thinks I am capable of being the tooth fairy to all.

I hugged her and told her the whole truth. I then told her how excited I was that she knew because now she can be  Junior Tooth fairy to her younger brothers.  I put her in charge of the Fairy Dust and of pumping up the excitement each time one of the boys lost a tooth.  I could see her eyes glow with pride as a beautiful smile spread across that amazing face of hers.

This morning, just before the sun came up, she crawled into bed with me.  She put her arms around me a placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. "I love you Tooth Fairy".

Sniff.

Comments

[Bianca Jackson]

The hardest questions a parent can ever have during their kid's childhood days:
1. Dad, are you Santa Claus?
2. Mom, are you the Tooth Fairy?
3. Mom/Dad, are you the Easter Bunny?
It really makes tears fall down because you know that they're growing up, and they're starting to speculate on stuff. Oh, by the way. How many baby teeth has she lost already?

[Maureen in IL]

The teen years are a marathon of patience. Just the way it is. I used to tell myself (by the time they were graduating from HS) it was nature's way of making it easier to let them fly when it was time.
That's a beautiful story about your daughter. She sounds special, you are both lucky.
maureen

[Jenne Misner]

Great story, but I do agree, you tell an amazing story of such special moments, thanks for sharing!

[killlashandra]

Oh that is so hard. My two oldest came to me as tweens and it was all rocky all the time. Still is, but then I think part of that is being a step mom too. I love your picture though, the sunbursts in the sunglasses is so cool. Chin up! You guys will pull through just fine. :-)

[Stacy]

You better believe the tears were rolling as I read this one. You really have a knack for capturing emotions - in pictures as well as in words. Thanks for sharing this.

[Pam White]

What a sweet experience story - thanks for sharing it.