She walks around holding a phone in the air talking to it, helps teach a dance class, dances three additional days a week then dances at football games, works company events, goes to parties every now and then, goes to the mall and works with the boys, and who knows what else.
Sound familiar to anyone else? A buddy of mine thought so. He said, “My wife is probably just as busy.” But the funny thing is, I’m not talking about my wife. I’m talking about my little girl who is not even a teenager yet.
I talked with her the other night and was teasing her about how she forgets stuff, and I always have to remind her to get her stuff or pick something up that she left behind. It was a funny conversation, but then all of a sudden, things got a little serious when she started to tear up a little bit and talk about how she is worried that she's always going to be forgetting something because she always has so many things that she needs to be doing. Between our family, her dance, and school and friends, a lot of people are asking for her time already.
Looking back on it now, I think maybe what I need to do is remember that she is still my little girl and not another parent in this family. She is my oldest and I rely on her a lot, and I appreciate everything that she does, but parents, I think we need to keep reminding ourselves that they will only be little for a short while, and we need to do more little girl stuff with them, and stop pushing them to grow up so fast.
Try this, Dad. Would you really ask my 11 year old to do that for you? If not, why ask your 11 year old? ■
