Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Go Ahead...Embrace it!




I have to blog about Meredith's birthday party. It was her first boy/girl party. She turned 12. This is such a fun age. I see who she is becoming and I love it. Do you want to know one of my greatest pet peeves? I hate it when people say, boys are so easy to raise...Girls are so difficult. Give me a boy any day. Or rather, I dread the teenage years with my daughter...is there anyway to skip it. When I hear things like that, I have to bite my tongue. It just makes my blood boil. You're probably saying, man Gina, tell us how you really feel? It just gets all over me. As I watched Meredith the other night with her friends, I had the most incredible joy in my heart. The kids weren't acting weird (well maybe for the first 30 minutes). They settled down and begin interacting with each other in a precious sort of way. Lots of chitter chatter. They loved getting their pictures made, except for Rebekah. Not a fan of posing for pics. We just had a fabulous time. Meredith decided she wanted to attempt a party game. We googled "party games" and found a game called Balloon Tower. You divide your group into 4 teams, give them 4 bags of balloons and a roll of packing tape. When you say go, they are to construct a balloon tower that stands on its own. The team with the tallest tower wins. It was so much fun. The kids had an absolute blast. I am going to try and put pics up of the event. We had the party at Mad Pizza in the upstairs room. It was a private party until the game was over and twenty 6Th graders started popping balloons. Thus no longer making it private, because everyone in the restaurant knew we were there. It was so loud and so crazy. Ed and I just looked at each and said, "what should we do?" We were horrified. We tried to yell, but the kids could not hear us. Have you ever felt completely out of control? I looked over the loft's edge, down to the people below (who were all out for a peaceful family dinner) all 80 plus of them were looking back at me. All I could say was...I'm so sorry. Then the manager came up. How embarrassing. We chalked that one up as a memory we will never forget. The night was awesome. In Meredith's own words...."I loved it mom. I had so much fun."
Back to raising daughters. I choose to look at it like this. Every moment is a gift. Every stage of development is one to be cherished. I loved telling Meredith about the birds and the bees and I love the fact that she feels so comfortable asking be about anything. I have loved every stage and I am going to embrace this awkward pre-teen, emotional stage just the same. The goal is to raise an exceptional young woman who loves God, and who is a spiritual leader. A woman who is confident, strong and prepared to face life's greatest challenges. Character doesn't just happen, it develops over time. The pre-teen and teen years are the years I choose to embrace more than any other. They are critical, character-building, life changing years. I can't afford to sit back and dread each day, or put my head under the covers and come out when it is all over. Daughters need their mommas. Especially during these years. They need them to love them unconditionally, tell them they are beautiful a million times and most importantly to make sure they are equipped for life. It's not easy, not always fun. But always, always embraced. My friend, embrace life. Wherever you are today...embrace it. That is the only way you can successfully get through it. Life will embrace you back. I promise. That's just the way it works. God says..."Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over." Now that 's a promise you can stand on today as you do one more load of laundry, drive one more child to a sporting event, clean up one more mess or buy one more pair of shoes (again) It just never ends. We can praise God today that His mercies, His love and His faithfulness never end. Running on empty? Then get yourself filled up. He's there, He's waiting.
This is all part of my journey today.

3 comments:

  1. I love the way you are approaching being a mother to your girls. It is so awesome that they can talk to you about anything, you seem to have figured out how to be both mother and friend to your girls. You are an inspiration, I wish I had had your wisdom when my boys were younger. Thank you for doing this blog.

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  2. Gina,
    I have to ask. When did you tell Meredith about the birds and the bees? And, you loved it?? Don't get me wrong...I want Michael and I to talk about it. My mother pretended it doesn't exist. If I mentioned it,I grow up with a that is horrible, wrong, bad, bad. Shame on ME for even thinking such horrid things!

    I loved the Song of Solomon conference we had at our church years ago. That is the approach I want us to take with our boys.

    Did you bring it up? Was there a situation where it just happened to be a teachable moment? I just want Michael and I to be prepared, have Godly wisdom...when the time comes!

    I love that you are embracing every stage with your girls! What a gift our children are!
    Have a blessed day!

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  3. Amen sista! So glad there are other Moms out there who feel the same way I do about parenting- but mostly feel lucky that I have you as a friend and confidant in raising our girls together.

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