Saying "good-bye" to twirly skirts

I cleaned my nine year old's room this morning. I know she should do it herself, but sometimes you just gotta get in there and really clean out and organize things. I started by putting up all of her winter/too small clothes in her drawers and closet. As I did, I realized it was probably the last time I'd being pulling "twirly skirts" out of her drawers to put away.

This is my girly-girl who has loved to twirl! She has been the queen of the twirly skirts, and even this past year has still enjoyed them. But she is rapidly growing out of that stage of her life. Everyday she is leaving more of her "little girlhood" behind and becoming more of a young woman.

Her room is evidence of that. Everywhere you look there are evidences of her struggle to hold on to being a little girl while eagerly trying to embrace this new desire to grow up. Baby dolls and Polly Pockets sit alongside her iPod and Hannah Montana notebook. Her iPod playlists include silly, childish songs like Andrew Peterson's "Bears, bears, they got no cares..." as well as Tiao Cruz's "Dynamite." Then there's the princess dress-up clothes that are slowly losing out to the new, trendy styles of clothes with matching earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Now on visits to the mall, we need to stop by Claire's as well as Build-A-Bear workshop.

She still invites her little sisters to come in her room and play Littlest Pet Shoppe and "House." They still play with tea sets and pretend they are best Mommy friends with their babies.

When friends come over, though, I'm more likely to hear the (very) few pop songs she has blaring out of her room while they sing at the top of their lungs and dance.

Thankfully, she is much more innocent and naive than most nine year olds out there. And I'm just as grateful that her friends are as well. I'm sure homeschooling has a lot to do with that. People criticize home schoolers for sheltering their children. Yes, I'll admit to being guilty of that. I'll also say I wouldn't have it any other way! I'll keep her a little girl as long as I can and enjoy every second of it. I will protect her from the knowledge of the evils of this world for as long as I can. She'll have to learn about them soon enough, and she'll be a lot better off to keep her innocence for much longer than most kids.

But she does eventually have to grow up. That's my job as a parent--to teach her, to model for her, to mold her into what God has planned for her. That's a tall order. Parenting is tough stuff and the responsibility is huge! But she is already showing the evidences of growing in the right direction.

Her Bible lays on her bedside table. More nights than not, I walk in her room before she drifts off to sleep, and that's what she's reading. She lets me in on her prayers and the people she's prayed for when she prays alone. Her journal is filled with Bible verses that she's copied because somewhere in that nine year old mind, she knows that that would be a great thing to write down!

She's also learning the life lessons that so many children don't get to learn today. She's learning how to be a mommy, and she's very good at it! She's learning (hopefully) how to manage her time--although her mommy struggles with this as well--between work and play. She's trying to learn how not to be so self-centered, although this one is a hard lesson to learn!! She's learning to cook for a family; that a house doesn't magically stay clean; and how to serve your family, friends, church, community. All these things she's doing because she sees the importance of becoming a godly woman who will eventually be a godly wife and mother.

Yes, my oldest daughter is growing up. I'm so glad I have two more to enjoy behind her! I'm thankful that they have her as an example to look up to.

I'm so thankful and a little nostalgic about twirly skirts and tea parties. But I'm excited and ready for the ride as we discover together this whole new world of hormones, emotions, and other things that go along with growing up as a female. I want to be there and share every moment of elation as well as every bump in the road. I pray that I can be all she needs me to be as a mother and that God will cover up and fill in the holes of all the things that I most definitely will do wrong!

I look forward to the day when she and I will be true friends, as my mother and I are. It's not gonna be long now--the years fly!