Today my little girl becomes a woman.  My older daughter is 18.  In Manitoba, where we live, she is a full-fledged adult.  She can drink, vote, and legally make decisions for herself.  I know every parent says it, but really, where does the time go?

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this, as I’m sure all mothers do as their children get older.  I am very excited for my child to start a new chapter in her life, for her to discover the world on her own and find out who she is.  This also scares the s**t out of me.  There are many unscrupulous people out there that take advantage of unworldly young adults.  I remember, I’ve been there.

I miss my content little girl, the go-with-flow child.  For a long time, our world was only the two of us, and we had many fun times together.  It was not easy being a single parent and I made some mistakes along the way, but I wouldn’t change much in the way I raised her. 

My young lady has asserted her independence in a large way over the last couple of months and it has left a hole in my heart.  I am very melancholy and I want my little girl back!  Oh, get over it, nobody said parenting was easy.  I just have to learn how to parent an adult now, not a child.

She was a funny kid and was very smart.  When she was about three, I took her to a museum (which she loved) and when we got on the bus to go home, she told everyone which “zibits” (exhibits) were her favourites.  I knew then that my precociousness was somewhere in her.

There was also the time when Kevin and I went for parent teacher interviews in grade eight and the teacher gushed about how wonderful it was that we took our daughter on a hot air balloon ride.  Kevin and I looked at each other and said, “We’ve never been in a hot air balloon”.  Child number one told the class this brilliantly detailed story about a hot air balloon ride we went on and the whole thing was made up.  The teacher so was embarrassed that she believed the whole thing, hook, line and sinker!

I think that’s a sign that she can fend for herself at times.  Good luck, Thing One, on this very important next step in your life.  I know everything will be alright.