Time Flies

My baby girl will be twelve in six days. Twelve. Do you remember being twelve? She's a lot different than I was at her age. I played with Barbies and read Trixie Belden books. She's got a makeup collection and reads Seventeen. I know that a lot of it is from television and music. I mean, remember the controversy over She-Bop? Now there's nearly-explicit songs playing on the radio all the time and she knows what they mean thanks to her friends. I try to encourage her to enjoy being a kid, I really do, but it seems like any more kids are being forced to be grown-ups as soon as they can walk. This year I'll be taking her shopping with her birthday money again. Part of her growing up is her outgrowing jeans in the blink of an eye. In two more blinks she'll be packing for college (she wants to study cosmetology) and moving out. I'd better be enjoying the time I have with her. I need to enjoy still being taller than her, too, while it lasts.