Teenager in the house

I am now the parent of a teenager. My oldest daughter (of two) turned thirteen today. That is so hard to comprehend in some ways, and at the same time not at all surprising as teenagerhood has been obviously approaching for many months.

I am so proud of my daughter. She is intelligent, an independent thinker, and very caring and giving. For the last few months she has worked hard most days to get her homework done as soon as possible after school so that she can go to the house of neighbor who is a newly divorced young mother with four young children to play with the children and help out this mother. She works as an aide in her school office and has earned the nickname "the best aide", because she really works hard to help out the staff rather than treating the time as a chance to socialize or goof-off. These kind of things are not the only things I value about her, obviously - but they are sweet to see. I really look forward to watching her grow through the next few years.

And now I am exhausted from subbing in a kindergarten classroom all day, followed by a mad couple of hours of cleaning and cooking, and the out-of-the-ordinary experience of an extended family birthday dinner on a school night. It was a good day.