Loved this. Sounds like you have a fantastic daughter. My granddaughter came home from Middle School last week and said, "Grammie, Middle School boys stink--literally, figuratively and collectively!" I adore strong girls who are confident enough to name it!
Regarding the best parts of life - I have also been thinking about this. My daughter regularly participates in a girls in STEM program at Carnegie Mellon, and 2 months ago I was hit with college nostalgia. It was early Spring, and all the college kids were out enjoying the weather, throwing frisbees, chatting on little blankets in the grass. I couldn't believe it had been more than 20 years since I had been the one outside throwing a frisbee with my friends after the weather had finally, FINALLY broken. The nostalgia was hitting hard. And then we entered the building, walked up a flight of stairs, and passed by a classroom full of extremely stressed college kids all hunched over an exam, and that nostalgia whooshed out of my system instantly. Like can you imagine having to take a bunch of exams all the time now? NOPE. My thinking is that what if we don't have an age that is the best time of your life. What if you have a bunch of stages where there are good things and not-so-good things, and you try your best to appreciate the good things while they're there and be glad when the not-so-good things are over. That is what I hope for what remains of my life.
Loved this. Sounds like you have a fantastic daughter. My granddaughter came home from Middle School last week and said, "Grammie, Middle School boys stink--literally, figuratively and collectively!" I adore strong girls who are confident enough to name it!
I have to say, as a former middle school boy, she's not wrong...
Regarding the best parts of life - I have also been thinking about this. My daughter regularly participates in a girls in STEM program at Carnegie Mellon, and 2 months ago I was hit with college nostalgia. It was early Spring, and all the college kids were out enjoying the weather, throwing frisbees, chatting on little blankets in the grass. I couldn't believe it had been more than 20 years since I had been the one outside throwing a frisbee with my friends after the weather had finally, FINALLY broken. The nostalgia was hitting hard. And then we entered the building, walked up a flight of stairs, and passed by a classroom full of extremely stressed college kids all hunched over an exam, and that nostalgia whooshed out of my system instantly. Like can you imagine having to take a bunch of exams all the time now? NOPE. My thinking is that what if we don't have an age that is the best time of your life. What if you have a bunch of stages where there are good things and not-so-good things, and you try your best to appreciate the good things while they're there and be glad when the not-so-good things are over. That is what I hope for what remains of my life.