Two in the double digits

My middle offspring is 10 years old today. I'll never forget the day I turned 10, my dad telling me 'You're out of the single digits forever, it'll be double digits from now on'. And I really stopped and thought about it for a minute and it made me feel excited. But kind of sad, at the same time, because even back then, I knew that my 'little kid' years were mostly behind me.

I love the picture of Emma above. I found it for the first time a few minutes ago in a folder of 'Anna's pictures' that she had taken in New York in July. This one gives me a glimpse of what Emma might look like as a teenager. And I love the way her wet hair made little puddles on her shoulders. We had been to Coney Island and were on the subway ride home. The girls had played in the sand and the ocean like little kids. Giggling and pushing each other in the water. It was just getting dark and as I watched them, I smiled because it brought me back to a time when they were my 'little girls' and so young and innocent. I can distinctly remember thinking back then about how, in a few years, I would long for the times when all they did was play and didn't have a care in the world. I was right to think that I would miss it. I do.

We're in a totally different stage now. A stage of friends. And rumors. And boys. And shopping. And all that 'tween stuff'. We went shopping at the mall last night, just the girls. The three of us and two friends. We had the best time. I connect with my girls so much as 'friends' now, and it reminds me of the relationship that I built with my mom, when I was their age. It's a different stage, but a good one. The innocence is still there too, and I hope a little of it always is. Just when I was feeling like Emma was a little too grown up for my taste, she asked me yesterday 'Mom, do they ever run out of room for people in heaven or can everyone fit?' and I'm challenged to figure out something I never would have thought of otherwise. She keeps me on my toes, that middle child.

Emma helps me so much to laugh, to point out things that otherwise would have gone unnoticed and to keep my faith alive. Happy 10th, my Em'!