Operation 12 is continuing.
I let Princess and her new friend walk to a playground alone Friday. (There was no school here.) This involved crossing a road I have never let Princess cross alone. It's not a highway or anything - just quite a bit busier than our little dirt road.
We're working on helping her accept more responsibility at home. She cleaned the living room floor on her hands and knees without it even being suggested. (I've never even done that.) Of course, other times getting her to pick up just a few things is a battle.
Hubster taught her to use the weed whacker to trim a bush yesterday. I didn't freak out (outwardly) when I saw my baby with a power tool. Princess was so proud of herself. The smile on her face was amazing.
She's been entertaining herself in her room more and is still sleeping in her bed instead of the couch.
She's growing up. I'm working hard to encourage her to be 12 more and she's thriving. She even brought up the possibility of sleep away camp for a week this summer!
Yeah, it's an adjustment. We've had some of our biggest meltdowns ever in the last couple of weeks. However, I also see real progress happening.
She's not quite ready to stop being the baby yet, though. And hopefully she never will be! She's asked me a few times if she'll always be my little girl. "Yes! Absolutely! Always!" I tell her.
She's been chatting with her older sister on Facebook (which is exactly why I let her set up an account last week). Her sister mentioned having to work yesterday. Princess asked me if it's normal for teenagers to work on the weekends. I told her it was because they go to school during the week.
"But when do they see their mommies?" she asked.
Oh, my sweet girl.
She still needs a lamp on to fall asleep. I went in to shut it off last night and almost cried because my love for that beautiful little baby of mine was so strong.
So, yeah, Operation 12 is moving along, but she'll always be my baby.
Great job!!! You & Princess!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You know this is hard for me! You'd be so proud of me this morning - I had to bring her to school because BFF's mom is sick and she forgot her breakfast that she planned to eat on the way. I dropped her off at school anyway - no running back home or stopping at the convenience store(with only a slight bit of mommy guilt.)
DeleteIt's hard! My son is 12, and moved in with us at 9. Sometimes we push him to be his chronological age, sometimes he pushes, and sometimes we just let him be younger. I've finding that he's had a great explosion of maturity in the last 6 months. I think it's in large part because his anxiety is finally calming down and he's more and more comfortable in our family. He's started to do typical "pre-teen" stuff, and started to take on more responsibility in the house. Our family is a little different then yours as we have younger children in the house so that he is forced to take on a bit more of a older brother role. But he's thriving! He's even taken a babysitting course in the last year and has babysat the youngest ones while I grocery shopped. It's a far, far cry from the little 9 year old who needed to sleep one my floor to be safe and wanted me to volunteer in his school so he'd know I was nearby.
ReplyDeleteThat's so great to hear! We seem to be pretty much on the same time line (adopted 9-year-olds with separation anxiety 3 years ago!) It's a super hard balance, indeed.
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