The End of 2010

Daughter and I began cleaning her room this evening. And it was AWESOME. For the first time, without any extra effort on my part, Daughter and I connected. It was a mom holding up items and a daughter saying either "Yes, keep;" "For the children;" (donate box) or "Trash." We laughed a lot (Daughter has such a fun personality), and we cried a little (reading Daughter's late mother's will, where she wrote a personal note "I love [Daughter] so much. What would we have all done without her?").

Daughter, believing she is now "grown up" and "almost 17" is more willing than ever before to donate her gently used toys. At times, her "throw" attitude was a little disconcerting, and once or twice she expressed her sadness at giving some toys away. I reassured her that she didn't have to give anything away, but she said she was OK. I am really impressed with her maturity. She knows she is ready to part with "little kid" toys, she also knows she is a little sad, and she is willing to do it anyways. Wow.

And then, she told me she smelled popcorn. I can't smell anything because of my cold, but it made sense. It is now 10 p.m., so if Husband and Teenager were making popcorn, we deserved to be in on this! I sent her downstairs, while I rearranged a few more piles. I walked downstairs, and she was making microwave popcorn by herself. I stuck my head in the bedroom, where Husband was trying to ensure we entered 2011 with the checkbook balanced. I discovered there was no popcorn prior to Daughter's batch. That goofy girl. We had a quick chat about not lying to get popcorn, and then sat down to watch iCarly.

Happy New Year! To many more like memories!