Thursday, May 7, 2009

A Glimpse Of The Woman My Daughter Will Be


It amazes me how quickly my soon to be thirteen year old daughter's moods swing... oh boy... I feel like I'm on a roller coaster at Magic Mountain... it's crazy.... One minute happy.. one minute sad, one minute wants to be a kid, one minute wants to be an adult, one minute loves the Jonas Brother, one minute can't stand them, one minute she is hugging and kissing me, and you guessed it the next minute she wants her space.... was I like this? I am sure my mother and my two older sister would probably say ...ooooohhhhh yesssssss....... my new/old friends from junior high that I've been recently reacquainted with on FaceBook would probably say you betcha....I'm thinking the curse my mom placed on many years ago has come true..."I hope you have a child that turns out to be exactly like you"..well thanks mom.... I say very sarcastically....
In between the daily mood swings - I saw a glimpse of the adult my daughter will become.. I was so proud of her.. This is what happened:
A while back she confided to me that many of the girls she has been hanging out with do and say inappropriate things. I know that her age is a big factor for this - kids testing out their "bad" words... "bad" jokes...This is the age where gossip really starts to grab hold... girls will brag about their "conquests" with boys... most of the things said are untrue.. I do remember those days.... but the things that are really bothering Nikki is the kind of humor a couple of these girls are using... it's sad that it only takes a couple of "bad apples" to bring down a bunch of kids.... kids feeling like they have to laugh at these awful jokes so they won't feel left out.. or too young to hang out with this group.. The jokes are the kind that are not funny at any stretch of the imagination.. Making fun of the kid who has bad skin, or the kid that is chubby, or calling each other "sluts" - I cringe at that one... Saying hateful things about blacks, Mexicans, and any other race that is not theirs... My kid does not understand this kind of hate... she did not find humor... but she was afraid to say anything... afraid to stand out.. afraid of rejection... until today..
Today my brave daughter stood up for what was right. She told the girls in a letter addressed to each of them individually that she felt uncomfortable listening to their "jokes".. The jokes hurt her feelings because she is friends with many of the kids they are tearing down.. she has friends of many races... we live in a color-blind home....always have and always will.. She told these girls that she could not hang out with them if they continued to hurt and gossip about other people..
One of the girls after school (I saw this) came up to Nikki and said she was sorry and that she would try to stop because she really liked Nikki.....
On the ride home, Nikki told me how afraid she had been to say anything... she had been dealing with these feelings almost all school year and now that school is almost over.... she felt that God wanted her to stand up for what is right... of course when we got home, she and her sister starting fighting over the last Oreo..... so I ate it....

6 comments:

  1. Wow - that is really brave of her and shows so much wisdom at her age. You and Dusty have done a great job and should be proud of her.

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  2. What a good kid! If she just ends up with that one friend who will make the effort to quit, she will be better off than with a bunch of the other kind.

    Perri

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  3. What a great kid. You must be really proud of her.

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  4. I am laughing so hard-- this is such the experience I have with my 9 year old (well, I guess all three boys, but as they get older, ya know, you get glimpses, like you said). Sometimes I look at him and think, "What a strong, mature, godly young man he is becoming", and usually not much long after he is telling one of his brothers he doesn't like them or to go away, or something of the sort. Ahh, growing up!

    That is a great story about your daughter-- that shows a wonderful relationship with the Lord that I'm sure you have instilled/nurtured in her. Bask in that blessing!

    In HIM~

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  5. You must be so proud! I hope when my daughters are 13, they are as brave in standing up for what they believes as Nikki is!

    What a great post!

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  6. I am so very proud of Nikki that was a very brave and grownup thing to do..I just hope some of these girls really hear what she is saying.
    I love you Grandma

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