Mama Tried

Today has been a very good day in the lives of the cheerleader and moi. Today is when I finally saw that my words and guidance and wisdom may really be sinking in, after all!!! Today was the day that the cheerleader actually admitted, in front of her friends, that I just may know what I am talking about from time to time.

In my ever changing moods, no words have ever sounded sweeter! It has been my goal, since the day of her birth, to guide, mold, shape her. Things were going swell until we hit the 13 year milestone. It's been a rollercoaster of hit and miss since then. As most teens, she tends to think that J and I are from another planet or that our wisdom comes from the land of the lame. She makes comments that make me think she doesn't even know my age since she refers to my teen years as the 1950s. I usually tell her what I think she should do or try to guide her to see what I am trying to get her to see but she fights it the whole time. She is a strong willed girl. And, lately, I have decided to start standing in silence. Bite my tongue and let her figure things out on her own. It is hard for this controlling mama but it's better than driving myself insane.

I don't even know what started today's conversation. I had fixed breakfast for her and her best friends and they were all sitting around the table talking. The topic may have been about hair. I think. Anyway, I heard the cheerleader address me and command me that from now on, when she is about to make a big decision, I am to stand in her face and make her reconsider. Luckily, this decision was about something trivial like to highlight or not to highlight. She said that even if she gets an attitude, I am to refuse all money or other perk that she is about to receive and make her change her mind. She actually ASKED me why I quit voicing my opinion!!?? I told her that I was tired of going round and round over things that were not that monumental. I told her I was trying to make her make her own decisions, make choices and live with them. She said, well, I want you to TELL me when I am about to make a stupid move!!!! I have never felt so proud.

My cheerleader is growing up and the more she grows, the more she realizes how much I have tried to get her to see the happy medium, the good balance in life. I hope she continues to want me to interject my opinions and I hope that in one side of her brain, she continues to process my knowledge. It's been a good day at Maggie's Farm, a good day, indeed....