Remembering The Good For When I'll Need It
Cheer season is in full swing, which means I spend a significant amount of time waiting for Alexis to finish shooting school spirit out of her every pore. There's a big difference this year, though. I have company while I sit around and wait.
She really is the best. I tell her as much daily, right after I'm done whispering "cheerleading is dumb" 5000 times in her ear.
What?
I've paid my dues. I'm allowed to subtly try to steer one kid in another direction.
Recently Mila and I were hanging out in a picnic pavilion waiting for cheer practice to end when we were joined by a group of teen girls. They gathered around a table right behind us, completely oblivious to our existence.
Mila's current vocabulary is limited to "goo," "oooh," and something that sounds EXACTLY like "hi." It's all highly entertaining, but with only those few sounds and words, we often run out of chatter pretty quickly. Thus, we were sitting in a bubble of silence when the teens sat down. That meant we heard every word they said.
The conversation was exactly what you would expect from the high school girl sect. They were cattily discussing a party and who was invited and who better not show up. I now know that Kate is soooooooo annoying, Logan is a loser, and Liam better be at the party because OMG SO CUTE.
It's kind of pitiful how much those sorts of conversations sound the same as they did 20 years ago.
But then the conversation turned to the topic of mothers. The five girls were debating which one of them had the best mom versus the worst mom. One mom is "soooo mean" because she never lets her daughter do anything.
That sounds valid. Yup.
Another girl said her mom is "fine." She didn't elaborate, but the other girls seemed to agree.
Then came the winner of the mom lottery. The girls all agreed on the criteria and the results. The best mom was the mom who, "doesn't care what Bella does, like EVER."
As the whole conversation continued, Mila and I watched Alexis run across the field. Practice was over and she was ready to turn the page to the rest of the day. When she arrived, she leaned over and kissed Mila on the cheek. "Hi, mom!" she said.
"Here's your water bottle," I said.
"You are the best, mom!" she cheerily replied.
I bottled up that moment in my head. I'm going to need it in a few years when she thinks I'm the worst.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Reader Comments (4)
You WILL need to remember those moments because truly teenagers are often the DEVIL in disguise. However, Alexis is a great kid and I have no doubt you will weather the teenage years just fine!
Those moments that I keep tucked away in my memories are the only thing getting me through these teen years. I know she loves me deep in there but oh the mood swings and the "I can't live without it" moments. Ugggh. My diva is a good girl but still makes you want to pull your hair out. So yes yes yes keep those memories - you will need to pull the mom energy from those all too soon! :)
I have a recording of Evie saying that I am her best friend.Its labeled To listen to when Evie says she hates me.
Ain't that the truth!?
Hi cutie! waves to the precious baby on the screen :)