Today is Whitney's Birthday

I wouldn't normally post about one of my kids' birthdays, but since I now have a true teenager in my house going off to high school next year, I thought I would just offer a few thoughts.

First of all, I don't feel old enough to have a teenager. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up so how am I supposed to help my daughter :-)? But, I'm suddenly finding myself giving her these long lectures on life, her purpose, and warm places to go to college. She tells me that these "talks" make her "sleepy". It's like she is already leaving the nest. I'm panicking I think. It feels like the first 14 years have flown by and all those things that I thought I would have been able to teach her by now (like how to catch a halibut...lol) just hasn't quite happened yet.

Now we are moving into uncharted territory. Cell phones, boys, driving at some point. I'm finding myself sounding more and more like my mother these days. "Until you pay the bills in this house, young lady, you will keep your bathroom free of things that have a life all their own...!!" It's very exciting to be watching her grow up and go through all of those things that the rest of us have lived to tell about.

There are so many more fun stories I could tell, but given the fact that she IS a teenager, I know that she might not think they are so fun. So, I won't say anything to embarrass her. I will say that we feel so blessed to have a daughter like Whitney. She has brought us so much joy and as a mother I feel incredibly blessed to have her in my life. She and I have been through a lot together during the years I was a single mom. We often laugh about the time we lived on an old wooden boat down on Lake Union. There aren't many kids who can say that. And, even though it was crazy, she says she has really great memories from those days. I know that I couldn't always give her what other kids had but our relationship was enough to sustain her...and me.

So, today is more about me I guess than it is about her turning 14. It's been an incredible experience to be the mother of Whitney. She is an amazing daughter, sister, student and friend. I'm so thankful that she came into my life when she did...