Little Girl, Growing Up

I didn't know Izzy for the first ten years of her life, yet she is my youngest and part of me isn't quite ready for her to be thirteen yet, which is weird, I know. While Izzy is very much becoming a young woman, she is very much my tough tomboy as well, and I adore that. She is the child I can pose with in my mirror as we both flex our arms and compare biceps. I remember being thirteen and wanting to be young while wanting to be grown up too. It’s a tricky time, a transitional time of being pulled between two worlds. 

This tension can travel with you into your late teens. Mine ended after I had been dating Matthew for about a month. His mother called to ask him what his Easter plans were, and I was sitting next to him when she called. He told her, “I just met this amazing woman, and I think I am going to have Easter lunch with her.” I thought, “Who is he talking about? Who is this WOMAN he knows?” Then I realized he was talking about me. Until then, I had never been referred to as a woman by anyone, especially a man. “Huh, I guess I am a woman?” I thought.

After Izzy turned thirteen the other weekend, I wanted her to know that she is becoming and soon will be a woman, but she can be both a woman and a girl for a while. I wanted Izzy to know that I see her, all of who she is, even the growing up parts.

I offered to curl her hair, which is getting quite long, with the curling wand that has only been used by her big sister up to this point. We hung out in my bathroom and talked while I completed the look. We chatted about growing up and Izzy commented, “I don’t think I will want to curl my hair every day. Some days I like to go tomboy...not pretty.”  I replied, “Tomboy is pretty too.”

P.S.  Matthew is a genius. Izzy wanted a slumber party to celebrate and Matthew spent the day doing yard work in preparation. They were planning a campfire with s’mores. On a whim he set up our tents to let them “air out” when Izzy was suddenly inspired, “Hey Dad, can me and my friends sleep in the back yard tonight?” Why yes, yes you can! Therefore we were spared the giggles and shrieks at 2:00AM which occur when a gaggle of teen girls fill your home. We slept peacefully. I love that man.