You still need me!

Dear Atley,

I thought it might come to this but I was hoping you would be more like 17 rather than 5 when you began to think you were too cool for your mom and the rest of your family. I guess I was wrong because lately you seem to be growing up much faster than I had ever anticipated. First, you are refusing to take a bath. Bathing is for little kids and now a shower every morning is more your forte. Second, you refuse to play in the playland at the mall, stating that it is too embarrassing. You want to comb your own hair, brush your own teeth, pick out your clothes, and pack your own snack for school. You won't let me walk you into kindergarten anymore either. Instead, you bail from the car as soon as it is in park without a single look back. Although, I suppose I can understand. I know that Nash humiliated you in front of your friends when he kissed you on the lips and told you that he loved you, but did you really need to call him stupid in front of your whole class? It broke his heart. He loves you so and wants to be just like you. And when we went to your classmate's brithday party yesterday did you have to lie and tell everyone that Nash was really your cousin, explaining to us that cousin's are way cooler than brothers? And though we all know that you love music your teacher tells me that you are refusing to sing because the songs are too babyish. So, I ask is it really better to spend an entire day with your shoes untied instead of admitting that you need my help to tie them? Are you really too old to hold my hand in the parking lot? Or even wave goodbye? Well, maybe so but I think the truth is you still need me.

For example, you need me to tell you how disgusting it is to make a girl smell your breath because you are convinced that the onions from the cheeseburger you just ate will make her cry if she gets a big enough whiff of your rancid breath. You still need me to explain why it is wrong to eat spaghetti sauce from a broken glass jar scattered all over the floor of Wal-Mart. You still need me to remind you that taking a break to go to the bathroom is way more attractive than the potty dance you do instead. And as macho as you want to pretend to be we both know that you can't sleep unless your little brother is in the same bed with you.

It is hard to watch you grow up and see how much the opinion of your peer's means to you. I hope you will always try to remember how much your family loves you and that friends may come and go, but we will always be here for you. Whether you like it or not you will always be my baby and that just might mean some very embarrassing moments for you in the coming years. Just want you to prepare your self.

Love Always,
Mom