She is getting to the age when friends are becoming important and those relationships get more attention than ever before. A time of exploring the types of friends that she wants in her life (even if she knows the answer or not). A time when I watch my little girl grow up just a little bit more. A time when she just really wants to go on her own and leave her little sisters behind. Just for a few hours before she comes back to play and fight with them.
She is getting just a little bit more independence from her father and I. We let her and her friend Ella ride their bikes or walk around our campsite bay with walkie talkies in hand. I let my string out just a little bit more as I watch her bike away. This is such a hard thing for me. This anxiety ridden Mama who worries about the smallest things to the biggest tragedies. They all flash through my mind as she rides out of sight.
I wonder how I will ever allow her the freedom to take the car keys and drive out of my driveway on her own. I wonder how I will ever survive the packing of the bags and treasured belongings as she heads off to university and I don’t see her everyday. Thinking about it makes me cry.
She is a good kid and she and Ella find grass (or wheat as they call it) and drive up and down the bay to find other campers willing to buy it. And they did. They came home a few quarters richer and more experience wiser and I loved their minds for thinking of that. After a few hours apart they run to each other and hug like long-lost friends. It’s a friendship that I am loving for her.
It was no surprise when they started talking about having a sleepover. Piper has been curious about sleepovers and going to sleep away camp. Telling us that she really wants to go and that she is ready. Me… not so sure, but when Piper and Ella started making plans I was prepared to let her try it. Knowing full well that at some point in the night Ella’s Daddy would be walking her up the street to our camper.
Piper and Ella were so excited, they ran to our camper so that Piper could get changed and grab her stuffy. Piper’s excitement could hardly be contained. Daddy told her that if she felt like she wanted to come back to our camper, it was okay. It was her first ever sleep over and I knew I would see her before dawn. She wanted to take her iTouch, in case she woke early and everyone else was still sleeping. I said, No. You will be fine without it.
And she was off.
Running to Ella’s camper excited for her first ever sleepover.
She didn’t make it the entire night. Like we all suspected would be the case. Nope. My big girl was back within 10 minutes because she got homesick.
“I was homesick. It was my first time being away from you for a sleepover.”
Oh well. There is lots of time for us to try it again.
