Growing Up

I don't know if there are many things much more frightening than the realization that your children are growing older. Today I get to be concerned about kids running in the street or eating too much candy or, even worse, something toxic. Then I am reminded about tomorrow. Not tomorrow, tomorrow, but you know, the tomorrows down the road. Dating, driving, committing to Christ, fashion, eating disorders, sports - all those major milestones and hurdles to encounter in the next decade or so are enough to cause a little parental panic attack.

This evening Trinity asked me this: Mom, how come boys have so much more than girls? Because boys are physically stronger than girls and they "usually get to drive" and they "get to fight in wars", she is seeing, for the first time maybe, that there is inequality, even in our corner of the world. Don't worry - this mama wouldn't let that one go unaddressed! As well as assuring her that girls are as intelligent and talented as the guys and that we get the greatest gift of having babies, I used this opportunity to share with her about feminine power - and the need to use our influence over guys for good! That got her giggling up a storm.

Then a little while later she asked me how she has daddy's germs (i.e. genes) inside of her. Do you understand what she is asking me??? I won't go into details about what I told her on this rated G site, but she's got a nice head start on her junior high health class.

It's scary being responsible for all this big stuff, but now that I've taken a deep breath and counted to ten, I can remember that there is a reason why our babies aren't born as teenagers - so we can do this growing up thing together.