It is commonly understood, expected even, that mothers and daughters won't get along at some point in their relationship - especially during the angst ridden teenage years.
As I was sitting with my daughter on the couch this evening watching the latest episode of Glee, a few thoughts ran through my mind.......
How lucky am I? How did I somehow get blessed with this smart, whitty, amazing daughter? How lucky am I that when we are alone together we laugh 90% of the time? How did she develop into such a beautiful young woman whose heart if filled with a deep love for Christ, a passion for social justice and such a grounded attitude?
Don't get me wrong.....we do argue. The typical annoyances that plague most homes are in full effect here. I have to ask her to put away the dishes - most of the time. I have to remind her to change the laundry and not let it sit and get that moldy smell after 4 hours in the washing machine. I ALWAYS have to check that her flat iron is shut off, her bathroom fan isn't running and the 20 megawatt lightbulbs in her bathroom vanity and the annoyingly loud fan are both OFF.
All of that being said - I don't know what I would do if she wasn't here. I would miss both the good and the bad. The laughter and the anger. The times she opens up and gives me a window into her world and the times she is silent and wrestling with something. Eating cereal out of the box together and the times when I beg her to eat a piece of fruit or a vegetable.
It has been almost one year since her high school graduation. During that time she has grown so much. She became a girlfriend who supported the man she cared about while he was at war. She became a college student, a teacher, an employee, a better friend, a tax-payer, and officially - an adult.
Yet, she remained my daughter.
That will never change.
What will change is how I am a mother to her. Her life is no longer identified soley by her role or participation in our family, but by who she is in this world. What kind of path she carves out. What decisions she inevitably makes despite the advice or guidance I provide. Prayerfully, as she gets older and has a family of her own I will be a part of it. But for now, I will enjoy the little moments we share.......the way only she can tease me, yet make me laugh so hard at myself I almost pee.....or how we can run an "errand" together and silently know that means we are going to Target to spend money we shouldn't spend.......or how she knows when I need her to just sit by me on the couch when I am having a bad day....
Yes, it has been said that mothers and daughters don't get along.
I, however, wouldn't change one thing.
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