Growing up...

Anna just turned 8 this summer, but she is a very mature 8. She is very aware of everything around her, and I can often see her little mind cranking away; sometimes with understanding clearly dawning and other times with questions in her eyes that never cross her lips. We've touched on the topic of "maturing and developing" briefly over the last year, and lately she had really latched onto the idea of spending some quality time with mom and having some "girl talk". I've been planning on setting aside a day for our mother-daughter date, but it just hadn't worked out yet. But today, I was going to finish up some school shopping, and pick up some groceries and my sister was going to watch the 2 younger girls. When I dropped Eva and Elley off at Livie's, Lily got drawn into playing right away and asked if she could stay too. Liv was happy to keep the three, so we decided to have our special day today! We headed to the Gilbertsville Tea Room, where we were thrilled to find that it was so empty - we had a room to ourselves! We ordered our lunches, and over our scones and iced tea, we flipped through an American Girl book that focuses on a girl's changing body, laughing at some of the illustrations and talking about appropriate ages for leg shaving and makeup, as well as the more *delicate* details of a maturing female. To be honest, I was expecting more blushing and giggling, but she handled herself like quite a young lady. Over our quiche and grilled cheese, we also talked about boys, ("I want to marry a boy who wants kids, cause I want to be a mom like you; and it wouldn't be good if he didn't want to spend time with the kids too."), and college, and even love languages. After lunch, we did the rest of our shopping and running around, just the two of us. I was continually amazed at her maturity and thoughtfulness. And, just so I didn't get too teary thinking about how grown up she is - I was quickly reminded that she's only 8 when she was picking out all Hannah Montana school supplies! She has grown into such a beautiful and sweet little lady, who I am very very proud of and who I enjoy immensely. I am feeling so blessed to be a mother today.