Don’t we just?…
As a Mum to a teenage daughter I confess that I had always hoped that as she grew and turned into a young woman, that we would be close. And I like to think that we are.
I want to be the kind of Mum that both of my children feel they can talk to if they ever want to. I have worked hard at forging a good relationship with both of my children, but being close to a daughter is different than being close to a son. A Mum and daughter can relate to one another in a different way than a Mother and son can.
I can laugh and joke with Catherine, my daughter, about most things. We share the same sense of humour and both of us have a sarcastic streak that needs little encouragement – I admit that is a fault she gets from my side of the family!
We enjoy each others company and always have Fridays to look forward to – another post for another day! Don’t get me wrong, she is no angel, so sometimes I do find myself playing the parental card and pulling her up on things, but on the whole and as teenagers go, she’s not too bad…Well, I wouldn’t swap her!..
In the past few months, Catherine, who is fourteen, seems to have shot up. She is now clearly taller than me and of a bigger build too. For a while now she has been going on that she needs new bras, so last week when I suggested that we go shopping for bras together she was more than happy to do so.
A few days ago I dragged her out of bed bright and early – I really hate shopping, so I like to get it out of the way! We managed to get out the door nice and early too, getting up early and getting out the door early, don’t necessarily go hand in hand. To the annoyance of my family I am an early bird, and am bright and full of energy first thing, my family on the other hand can’t get moving in the morning and will happily sleep until late when they can. I am often the first one in bed in our house!
After hitting a few shops and having minor heart attacks at the price of bras – how they justify the price tag on some of the bras we saw I will never know! – we found a shop selling some pretty and reasonably priced bras.
The bras fitted nicely, so we bought five for Catherine and two for me, with hers being a good size larger than mine.
Now I have always tried to bring up my children up to be comfortable with their bodies and to know that everyone is different. The most important thing is to be happy in their own skin and to be healthy too. Me and my daughter do have good banter and I will tease her about her youthful chubby cheeks and she will tease me back about my not so youthful looks. It is fun and we both give as good as we get and I would never tease either her or my son about something that I know would upset or offend them.
When we got home, after buying the bras, my daughter put on one of hers and was showing me how it looked under her shirt. I commented on only ever having had a bust like hers when I was breast feeding – although where she got her cleavage from I really don’t know! We had a bit of a banter about bust sizes, got it out of our system and I didn’t think anything more of it.
Until yesterday…
Yesterday whilst I was showering, getting ready to go to my parents for Easter Sunday, my loving daughter left a sweet note tucked under the bra I had got out ready to put on and it read: Aww…So tiny. So cute.
As I entered my bedroom I could hear her sniggering in her bedroom and when I read the note I couldn’t help but laugh too.
I am happy that my daughter feels comfortable enough to tease me about my body. I want her to see that although I wouldn’t mind having a bit more meat on my ribs, I am happy with what I have got. I want her to know that it is alright to laugh at ourselves and that there is always something that someone would like to change about themselves.
It is also equally important to put things into perspective, a bigger bust, a smaller nose, daintier hands, better skin, these things are superficial compared to what some people would like to change if they could.
I love my daughter dearly, I love her warts and all, even when it maybe easier not to!
Are there things that your teenagers do that you can’t help just ‘loving’ them for? Feel free to share your stories below…
Copyright © 2014 Debbie Roberts
© 2014 – 2019, Debbie. All rights reserved.
BRENT PETERSON says
Debbie Roberts says
Yolanda DeLoach says
Debbie Roberts says
verde says
Debbie Roberts says
Kim says
Debbie Roberts says
Kimberly says
Debbie Roberts says
Katrina says
Debbie Roberts says