Springtime changes

Talking about birthdays, we celebrate a few in our family during the spring. 


Throwing Mother's day into that mix, I get my birthday, which feels special to me, but not much gets done in the way of celebrating unless my friends do something for me. 


Then, my baby girl celebrates her birthday, 13 days after mine...and most likely, Mother's day is just before or just after her birthday.


This year, she has her birthday on the actual day she was born...Saturday May 12th, the day before Mother's day. 


Every spring, as the blooms come out on the trees and shrubs, I remember my Grandma Mary's front yard. Since Kindergarten, (with paper crown on head) I got my picture taken in front of her Hot Pink Azalea bush with her, until I was 18!


I don't know if I even have most of the photos, as I wasn't given all of the things I asked for when my parents passed away, so who knows what happened to all of my pictures. Maybe burned, from what I read elsewhere. (suzanneshumaker.blogspot.com)


There were years I hated getting my picture taken with my grandma. I was pubescent and thought I was so over getting my birthday picture taken, I hated my hair, I hated what my mother made me wear, white knee socks were so not the thing to wear at 12 when you couldn't shave your legs or wear nylons!

My Grandma Mary Young Eells (1920-2001)

 and me on my 12th birthday

So now, as my daughter turns the ages that I was when I had these feelings, it sheds some light on her clothing choices, how she wears her hair, and I SOOOO learned from MY mother that its not the hair or the clothes that make the person.

My daughter almost 11 years old, just got her new hairdo, 

in an outfit she picked out

 Although I had to wear those handmade dresses, (which  I was allowed to picked the fabrics and patterns; mostly) but I know if my daughter doesn't wear what I prefer,  she's probably going to be a bit more confident, self-respecting, and mother loving person than I was.
It's called "choosing your battles". I'm all over choosing to have a happy, confident daughter that likes me, than a rebellious daughter that doesn't want to be in the same room with me. 


I don't believe it's spoiling her, I believe it's letting her be who she is, and not conforming to what my friend's daughters do/wear/act like, etc. --which was exactly the upbringing I had. To "show" what kind of a mom my mother was to me. (I assume)


So, as I celebrate my daughter heading into pre-teenage years, I remember those awkward years growing up the way I did, and the devastation of white knee socks and homemade dresses, Lord help me to not make my daughter a dress such as that and let her wear what she chooses on her feet. In Jesus name <3