Turn Around

Sometimes, as you skim the Internet, you might stumble across something that aligns with this moment in life. The following quote, from writer Jodi Picoult, echoes observations I’ve had of my daughter as she circumnavigates the strange new world of Middle School that she has now entered.

“It’s about a girl who is on the cusp of becoming someone…a girl who may not know what she wants right now, and she may not know who she is right now, but who deserves a chance to find out.”

This quote resonates with me each moment that i catch my daughter in quiet reflection. These moments remind me that she’s growing, changing and becoming her own person. There is something profound about riding this delicate line of still being ‘part child’ and pushing towards becoming ‘part young adult.’ Over the years you may witness kids far more eager to push past childhood, skip teenage years altogether and become a full-blown adult. But no matter how hard they try, there will always be so many steps to climb along the way.

Adolescents really are fascinating little beings. Sometimes you might think that as they grow older it all becomes easier, but honestly, there are so many more challenges to face in navigating the years ahead. The milestones yet to come can be daunting. There is the first kiss and the first heartbreak…or when they first leave home and go off to College…or when they first move to an entirely new, perhaps faraway place. Growing up in the ‘60’s & 70’s my parents listened to many records, one being an old Perry Como album. There was a particular remake of Perry singing the Malvina Reynolds song “Turn Around” that always stuck with me over the years, perhaps because my Mother would sing along to it with us. That song always made me smile, even before knowing what it meant, and often times when our daughter was just a wee little thing, I’d recall those lyrics so vividly and would softly sing them to her:

“Where are you going, my little one, little one… turn around and you’re two, turn around and you’re four, turn around and you’re a young girl going out of my door.”

How clearly these lyrics hit home right now. Children truly do pass through our lives and disappear into adults in the blink of an eye. It’s important to be a vital part of their lives right up until they close the door behind you. Recently, on a school camping trip, one of my favorite moments was when I inadvertently ended up sitting with my daughter and 4 or 5 of her friends during a group dinner. We were all slightly separated from the rest of the crowd. I sat quietly and observed them, taking in their humor, the bonds between them and laughed at their jokes. One girl finally looked up at me and commented how I was sitting amongst them. They didn’t mind it; they just thought it was funny that I was the only adult in their little world at that moment. I didn’t mind it either. For as long as they will let me, I’ll sit amongst them every chance I get.