They do grow up!

My friend Minda posted about how her Adult children are becoming (have become)...surprise...adults!

Her thoughtful comments got me thinking about how my little girls are going to become adults. But thinking about adulthood is too far away for me to fathom, so I'm just thinking about them becoming pre-teens. That I can fathom (definitely not teen-dom...that is a bit harder to comprehend).

On Saturday, Amelia got herself breakfast. Not just a bowl of cereal, mind you, but waffles with butter and syrup (yep...Eggos), applesauce, and a glass of apple juice. I was downstairs watching cartoons with Margaret and I either didn't hear Amelia ask for breakfast, or she didn't. I came upstairs at one point and there she was...eating her breakfast. Pretty significant if you really think about it.

And when I was doing her homework with her (she does still need constant prodding to get it done) I was amazed that she really has learned her number (addition and subtraction) facts. She doesn't want to admit she is good at math, but I think being able to add with carrying and subtract with borrowing and knowing one's facts through 10+10 is pretty significant for a second grader. Halfway through the school year I was lamenting that she couldn't even add 5 + 6.

She speaks thoughtfully on many topics. She asked me this weekend to "remind her" what AIDS was and how you get it. (We drove by Hiawatha park as people were gathering for the AIDS walk). BTW...I commented that it was gotten by sharing blood, and that she didn't have to worry about it. I didn't want to talk about "sharing body fluids" and, since she gets a shot every day I didn't want to talk about "sharing needles"...I didn't want to scare her unnecessarily. She seemed satisfied with my answer (thankfully).

Margaret is so ready for school; I suspect she is not going to sleep the night before Kindergarten starts, she is soooooo excited. She still has the voice and articulation of a young kid (kind of "lispy" in the middle of words? Does that make sense?), but her thoughts are starting to grow up. I'm not thinking of an example at the moment, but she often amazes me with her comments. Having an older sister is part of that, but part of it is just being 5 and being Margaret.

I'm lucky to have two such wonderful little girls. They are keeping me on my toes, and I love it that way!