Not So Fast

January 28, 2013

The kids and I were shopping a few days ago for craft supplies to make home made Valentine's. As you can imagine, it was just slightly crazy with FOUR kids eager to collect the things they need for their project. My mom came with us and, as usual, Aubree was glued to her side. They were looking at something and Aubree said to my mom, "Grammie, you see that old lady over there? She's thinking to herself, Wow! Look at that six year old girl. She can blow bubbles!"

First of all, Aubree just learned how to blow bubbles with bubble gum and she is beyond proud of herself- obviously. Secondly, Aubree just turned FIVE, not six. But she has desperately been wanting to be six years old for two years now. I don't know what kind of magic happens at six, but in her mind, it must be something special.

We finally finished our shopping and we were checking out and Aubree put her Strawberry Shortcake mouthwash onto the counter and said to the cashier, "Is this mouthwash going to burn? I'm a just kid you know." And I couldn't help but giggle because in her mind she was convinced that no one would know that she's just a kid if she doesn't tell them.

She is so funny. She keeps me on my toes ALL THE TIME. I look at her and think how little she still is. She's still just a baby. But, as she plays and I quietly spy, it's so obvious that she wants to be anything but a baby. She's ready to be a teenager. Her Polly Pockets are obviously teens by their conversations. She hates Dora, Bubble Guppies, Franklin and the the like now because "it's a baby show". She's always trying to leave the house with makeup on. And just yesterday, as I was trying to dress her for church, she was quick to inform me that the clothes I was trying to put on her were "not my style, MOM!" What? She's barely 5! She doesn't have a style. Does she?

Someone please have a talk with Aubree. Tell her not to grow up so fast. Tell her that life does not get easier. Tell her that hormones will soon begin to flood her little body and they will mess her up! Tell her that I'm not ready for her to hate me yet. Tell her I don't want to share her with boys {EVER!} and I want her to cuddle with me every night for the rest of our lives while she stares into my eyes with her sweet little face proclaiming her infinite love and adoration for me.

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you." Psalm 139:13-18