I am a 38yo wife, mother, friend & sister. I have been married for 17 years, and I have two children: Music (formerly Karate Kid) my 14yo son, and Drama Queen, my 12yo daughter.
Drama Queen is only 9-years-old, but her main goal in life is to be a teenager. The thought of hormones running amok in her little body is terrorizing to me. The in-the-fetal-position-in-the-corner-rocking-and-sucking-my-thumb kind of terror.
Case in point: She had a friend over this weekend to play. DQ walked into the room wearing a long-sleeve satin shirt. They were playing some game that I've since forgotten, but I remember she walked into the room and said (as she opened her shirt to reveal a T-shirt underneath rolled up to expose a good portion of her stomach) "We have to wear this shirt because our mom doesn't like us to show our bellies but we do it anyway."
At this point in time we only have two hard and fast rules for clothing: no bare bellies and no words plastered across her tail end. 'Cause those boys don't need any excuse for looking at a cute little body. She and the current population of boys that she knows may be too young for all of that now, but why get her used to dressing like that now only to tell her when puberty hits that it's off limits?
Not only will the clothing be an issue, but it will also be boys. Oh, the boys. My sweet child has been boy-crazy since she was 5! Her first crush was on a boy 5 years her senior. That same year we were headed to a water park, and she strutted out in her very modest and covering- lots-of-skin bikini/tankini and swim skirt (my one concession to showing no belly since it makes it so much easier to go to the bathroom). She struck a post, complete with hand on her hip, which was cocked to one side, and announced, "I'm going to find me a guy today. They'll like this swimsuit because my belly shows." After I regained consciousness, I asked her why she needed to find a guy. She declared that she needed someone to swim with her. I told her there would be plenty of girls who would love to play with her. Crisis averted.
Saturday Karate Kid had a friend over that DQ and I have never met, since they just joined the same Boy Scout troop. She knew he was coming but didn't know he was here yet. She went into K.K.'s room to tell him something and was surprised to see his friend. She came back into the room where I was and said, "Moooommmm, K.K.'s friend..." in a shaky voice. I asked her what about him several times but she couldn't ever get past, "He's..." I could practically see the hearts and birds circling above her head. I finally helped her out by saying, "He's cute, isn't he?" She sighed dreamily and said, "Yeeessssss."
I've said it once and I'll say it a thousand more times before we get her raised, we are in so much trouble. I think it will take lots of prayers and quite possibly lots of booze (on my part) to get her through puberty.
And, Keilani, Drama Queen seems to think that you and your girls should just jump on a plane and come visit us because she thinks it would fun to play with your oldest. I'm not sure how old she is, but I think DQ thinks she is close to her own age. If she wouldn't be such a bad influence on your little ones... *sigh*
Posted @
9:21 AM ~
8 comments
