My little girl...

Sitting here, with tears in my eyes… as I think back when my little girl was born.  She was so tiny and beautiful.  I thank the Lord every day for giving me such a precious child.  

I’ll never forget when the nurse took her away from me to give her a check up.   While they were wheeling her away, I heard her cry… it was more like a “meow”.  She sounded like a little kitten.  She never really cried.  

When I brought her home from the hospital, she was the sweetest baby.  She never kept me up at night.  She would make a little kitty sound and I knew I had to feed her.  Once I did so, she would sleep the whole night through.  There was only one time when she did keep me up and that was when she got sick.  That day was the worst day of my life!  She cried all night long and there was nothing I could do for her.  So I walked her and tried to comfort her.  I’ll never forget feeling so lost and useless!  My heart ached and I cried with her…

We used to take her out with us to restaurants and people would come by our table and comment on what a wonderful baby she was.  She never cried and was well behaved.  I was so proud of her.  When I finally went back to work (I used to work with my husband at his office), I would take her with me everyday.  No one would even know she was there.  The only time she would actually cry (more like a whimper) was when she needed to be fed.  My husband’s clients would notice her and they were amazed at how good my baby girl was.  She would not make a sound…

Today, while I was preparing dinner, my son was doing his homework in the kitchen table and my husband was sitting at the table helping him with his assignment.  Suddenly, my daughter comes up to me with tears in her eyes and says… “Mom, I think I got it!”  I looked at her and for a moment time stood still.  I saw it in her eyes.  I knew exactly what she meant.  For an instant, I wasn’t sure what to do or say.  She stood there waiting and I turned to my husband who lowered his head and my son who wanted to know what was going on.    I realize I had to say something so I took her to the room.  She began to cry.  Even though she already knew “it” was coming and we’ve been preparing for this moment, it still came as a surprise.  I consoled her and tried to explain to her that it was normal.  It’s something every girl has to go through in life in order to become a woman.  She said, “Mom, I don’t want to grow up yet!”  “I know baby”, I say. I began to tell her of my little story when “I got mine” and we began to laugh and cry together.  

Finally, she went upstairs to her room.  I told her to come down so she can eat dinner and she said, “No, mom, I’m embarrassed, I feel like Dad and my brother are going to stare at me.”   She said, “Mom, I don’t want my brother to make fun of me!”   I tried to convince her that it was not the case, but she insisted in staying upstairs in her room.

I came downstairs and prepared a plate for her.   My son said, “Mom, I’ll take it up for her.”  He took the plate, got a glass and filled it with milk.  He then took a napkin and put it on his arm (like a waiter) and took it up to her.  When he came down, I asked him, “Do you know what’s going on with your sister?” And he says, “Yes mom, I know”.   I thought he was so sweet!

I just can’t believe it!   My little girl… she’s growing up!