I'm So In For It!

My oldest, Rylee, has all of a sudden decided that Mom and Dad are SOOOOOO uncool and we definitely don't know what is best all of the time. I am now terrified for the years ahead. Here are a few illustrations that my daughter is suddenly thinking for herself (how dare she?) and growing up:

Last week at school they had "Dads and Donuts" one morning. The dads go with the kids to school forty-five minutes early and eat donuts and read books with their kids until school starts. It is such a fun tradition (they also do Moms and Muffins earlier in the year) because the dads all come out of the wood works. Maybe it is the donuts, but I like to give them the benefit of the doubt that they really like this special time with their kids. Anyway, on that morning I sent Rylee to school with an apple cut up in a baggie so that she has something a little more nutritious to eat with her donut for breakfast. She was fine with it until she saw one of her other friends eating donuts and looked around and realized no one else had apples. She said, "Dad, why did we have to bring apples? That is pretty dumb that we had to bring apples..." Wow, I am such an embarrassing mother! Poor girl. Get used to it!

Second Illustration: Rylee has a crush on this boy in her class that (and I know this is mean to say about another child) Bill and I CANNOT STAND! He drives us crazy. Kind of a mommy's boy, thinks he's funny, but he really isn't - he's just annoying kind of a kid. But Rylee thinks he is the end all be all. Heaven help us. And to make matters worse, the more we tell her to not be silly about boys, the more she does the opposite. Every day after school the first thing out of her mouth is, "Guess what _________ did today?" DO I CARE? NO, I CAN'T STAND THE KID!!! But I politely listen and remind her again to stop being silly about boys. So my concern: What happens when she is sixteen and brings home a boy to go out with that I can't stand? Or even worse: What if she brings home a dang boy that Bill and I can't stand and she says she is in love with him and they are getting married? I guess I will just start praying now that someone I adore will marry her. Maybe a little reverse psychology would work here. I should tell her I can't stand the boys I really like, and then just to defy me she will marry one of them. Then I win, but she doesn't need to know I do! I have a few years to keep scheming...

Third illustration: Last week when the Utah Jazz were playing the Lakers, Rylee said, "Mom, do you like the Jazz?" I said, "Yeah, I guess." I am kind of a fair weather fan. When they are having a crappy season, I couldn't care less about them. But if they are doing well and are moving through the playoffs with some success, then I start to get excited and watch the games. So when I replied that I liked the Jazz, Rylee said, "I don't; I like the Lakers," in a little defiant - take that kind of tone. My jaw dropped and I said, "Why do you like the Lakers?" For starters, I didn't even know that she knew the Jazz were playing the Lakers. Sheesh! She said, "Some boys in my class are wearing Laker shirts and I like them. And besides, the Jazz stink." (Something she had obviously heard me say in the past - oops, I guess she was listening.) She really does care more about going with what her peers like more than what her parents like. Crap, I am in for it!

How dare my first grader grow a brain of her own or decide to go with the opinions of her peers over those of Bill and I? I do want her to think for herself, of course. I don't want my daughter to grow up brainless and just blindly follow everything I ever tell her, but this obvious "rebellion" if you can call it that on such a small scale freaks me out a bit! Oh, what is a mom to do? Pray, I guess. And hard.