Fifteen Today

Our oldest child turns fifteen today, and I have spent the last twenty-four hours doing what I suspect many mothers do on birthdays: I have been remembering the story of her birth. I looked at her this morning and marveled. On the brink of womanhood, she stands at the same height as I do. For the first ten or so years of her life, I didn't really appreciate the 'time passes so quickly when they are little' phrase that was often offered to me as a caution. Time passed slowly in those days of multiple young children underfoot, temper tantrums, runny noses and constant interruptions. That has all changed. Now Ross and I want to slow down the clock a little. He left home at eighteen, never to fully return. We certainly aren't ready to face that prospect in three short years.

December is always a busy month, and we find it extra busy in Melbourne as we have the end-of-school-year schedule combined with the holiday season. Today is the last day of classes, in fact, for our older three. But we managed to carve out an hour last night for the family to celebrate together. We even made it through the mealtime without any arguing, no small feat for our tribe. It was a welcome respite from the frantic pace of the last few weeks. I found myself playing the Piano Guys' haunting rendition of 'Still, Still, Still' over and over and over again yesterday.

Katie has received some interesting gifts from her friends, including a push broom. I hope she puts it to good use in our kitchen. The one that has given me the most amusement, however, is a daily mood calendar. It allows her to "tell the world the state you're in." I don't really think the average teen girl needs much help with that, but just in case we aren't catching on, she can place it prominently on the kitchen countertop to alert us. This was the setting from earlier in the week: