"I hope you have FIVE just like you..."

Well I guess one is enough...right mom? In some ways Caelynn and I are very different. She has her daddy's mouth, she is a tiny little sprite ( in case you haven't noticed, I am not so tiny), she has tiny feet and she doesn't bite her fingernails (yet). But in most ways, Caelynn and I are the same.

You know when you are a teenager and your mom yells at you that she hopes you have one(or five as my dearest mommy used to say) just like you. I am assuming they are referring to the bad qualities. Since that phrase is usually spouted during a fight or a trying time with the child. Well mom, you got your wish. I had one just like me and I think one is enough.

Caelynn throws tantrums, she has a BIG attitude, she eats all day long, she wants her way ALL the time, she doesn't like to share, she wants to be in charge of the situation, she likes to try to manipulate things to go her way, she talks back, she hits, throws things, and bites when she is angry. She has a quick temper that rages and then quickly subsides. She is messy and disorganized.

In all these ways she is like me

But as she was napping the other day with her tiara on her head ( see post below), I wondered, when mothers say that phrase to their teenage daughters, does it only mean the bad things? Is it a threat?

What about her imagination, her sweet smelling skin and her determination. Her dark hair, olive skin and chocolate eyes. Her long eyelashes and her adorable smile. Her drive to get what she wants and her ability to believe she is a princess even in a little house in Keystone Heights. Her ability to forgive with just a hug. Her drive to dance at every song. She dances all day long! Her love for music and drawing. And her willingness to help.

What about all these things...because in these ways she is also like me. Many of the qualities that are so frustrating to us now, are going to be the same qualities that drive her when she is an adult. That same willpower and determination that make us want to ring her neck, are the same things that will get her the things she wants in life. Whatever those things will be. Maybe she will want a high power job. She could be an attorney, doctor, business woman, or she may just want to be a wife and mother.

I know that my grandmother probably yelled that phrase to my mother a time or two(or fifty). And I know my mom had a hard time with me, as her mom did with her, and as I will with Caelynn. But I also know that we are all loved. That despite the tantrums, my mom smelled my skin and tucked me in and marveled in my good qualities while dealing with the bad ones. Just as I do with Caelynn. I spend a lot of my day fixing what she has done and chastising her for her actions. But I try to take time to enjoy her, just as she is. Because next year she will not be the same little girl. In 10 years she may not even resemble the same girl, so I want to remember her like this. Good and bad.

My mom used to always say that she missed that little girl in the pictures. I never fully understood until I had my own daughter. Even though she is only 2 1/2. I miss the girl she was at 1 and as a baby. I know that next year I will miss the girl I have right now. So I need to cherish her. If I could keep her like this, I would. But since I can't, I will do my best to teach her to be a good woman, wife, mother, and friend.

and in case I haven't told you lately, "I love you, mom!"