10 years

I guess when you are ten years old you are old enough to light your own candles.  Or so she told me.  So many thoughts have passed through my mind as I watched my oldest turn 10 this week.   The one thought that dominated has been this:  wow, have I really been a parent for 10 years now?  Shouldn't I know more, shouldn't I be farther along with my parenting skills?  Hmmm.

We had an American Girl Mystery party at a generous friends house (since we are homeless).  It was delightful.  We also got to have a fun birthday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield's house.  She even got a special birthday phone call from Jamaica from Grandma and Grandpa Smith.  Now I am left with this very grown up girl who is teaching me a lot.  Being 10 can be hard.  Being the oldest and being 10 is even harder.  We love Maddie Jo so much and we are so thankful for her courage to lead our children.  We love her so.

She loved that the celebration lasted all weekend:  friday I brought treats in at school, saturday was the party, and sunday was the 'real' day.  It was also the children's primary program at church and she loved that.  It was a very fun weekend for her.

I enjoyed watching her interact with her friends and it made me proud of her to watch her at school and at the party.  She is a wonderful young lady. She tries so hard to always do things well and she succeeds.  I am happy I am her mom!