Birthdays

It's the start of a month of birthdays. Nikki's is today, Brianne's on the 18th and Aaron's on Oct 9th. I have been a mother for almost 27 years.

Nicole is 13 today. I no longer have a little girl. She is now a teenager. I have been noticing the change for sometime now. There is that little "attitude" in the tone of her voice when I asked her something. Her obsession with clothes and her appearance. (of course this is better than not caring and looking and smelling the slob) She also doesn't want to hang out with mom and dad anymore. But that's ok. Our goal as parents is to make them into functioning adults someday and giving them opportunities of trust is part of it. Of course parents are important to take you places and pick you up later, as long as "hot guys" don't see you getting in or out of the minivan. We got her a camera for her birthday. She had a choice, a North Face jacket or a camera. She said the camera (good choice, we are doing our job!). She still needed a jacket and we got her the Columbia one, which is just as good as the North Face only it's $100 less. I hope that my kids can understand that we aren't rich and even if we were richer, we still want them to appreciate what we give them.

Aaron will be 18. He is a senior this year and this means we have added expenses related to that. He is obsessed with getting a different car. Only thing is, Aaron wants us to give it to him. He doesn't want to earn the money to pay for it. We got him the car he wanted last year and now it's not what he wants. I truly want to give my kids everything they desire but Aaron needs to do his part too. So for his birthday, he will get a new cell phone and not a car. He is still a work in progress and we won't stop until we see him become an adult.

Brianne will be 27 on the 18th. Yeah, she is married and happy and likes that we give her stuff she can use. She is an adult and we helped her get there. We will always be there for her and the others too.