Day 289 The Perfect Mom Project

After school yesterday Avery went to spend the night at her friend's house. That left Aly and me to spend some time alone together. Aly drove us into our town and we got an ice cream cone and sat and talked. Two things were huge;

1. Aly drove us
2. We talked

It was awesome to have that mother/daughter time with no agenda. We just hung out and chatted about a variety of things. It was also awesome to be a passenger in the car Aly was driving and have the drive end well. There was no yelling or crying, I stayed calm and Aly did a great job getting us where we needed to go. It was a like a rechargeable battery, we were able to plug into our relationship and recharge it.

 That time with my daughter was precious, as we laughed and talked, I was able to see my sweet daughter growing up right in front of my eyes. Her thoughts about friends and the way her life is going were very insightful. My little girl is growing up. Later in the evening, I sat with her as she watched the TV show "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" As the kids n the show jumped from one relationship to the other and worried about being pregnant, I kept giving Aly "THE MOM LOOK". At one point she looked at me and said "I know Mom!" What she knows is that I do not like that more and more television shows are showing relationships as noncommittal transient connections. I am always commenting to the girls that real life is not like television, once you give away your heart it is hard to get it back. You are never the same.

 My hope is that Aly and I can continue to have time together like we did last night. Actually, I like having that time to plug into all of my girls. Laughing and talking and just connecting as people, with the roles of parent and child set aside for a short time. I plan to hold tight to these memories. They will get me through those tough days when my younger girls "teenitudes" flair up. In the mean time I will try to keep the lines of communication open. Raising kids is just not as easy as it looks; it is definitely not for sissies!