Sweet Sixteen

Ah, my baby girl. She turned 16 last week (yes, it's been a busy time with both our teenagers hitting milestone birthdays within a fortnight of each other!).

Our daughter, as far as age goes, is between our two boys. It can be a difficult place ... being the middle child AND the only girl. She's never had any trouble putting herself forward though. She has always been a strong personality (a 'spirited' child, as they say) - determined, stubborn, headstrong, wilful, bossy. All those things. I've often told my husband that her 'take charge' attitude will serve her well one day, we just need to cope with it in the meantime!

However, she can also be caring, emotional, sensitive and yes, very sweet. She's fiercely protective and quick to defend those she loves - and even those she doesn't, if she feels they're being treated unfairly. If she knows that someone is upset or going through a difficult time, she drops everything to be there for them. Even when it might serve her better not to.

She recently got herself a job, because school isn't really her thing. It used to be; in fact, she was an incredibly good student in primary school. However, high school brought with it a whole bunch of issues and challenges that made it difficult for her to continue. But, I've always been happy to accept that school isn't for everyone in the long run, so we've supported her looking for work and leaving school a little early.

She had a lovely birthday. First, a family dinner at a restaurant, just like her brother a couple of weeks earlier. Then, I granted her a wish. Months ago, she asked if she and I could have a mother-daughter night away somewhere. Just the two of us, preferably near a beach. Well, I'm proud to say, I delivered! We had a two bedroom unit at Redcliffe, overlooking the beach, all to ourselves for a night. The unit wasn't 5 star and we were on a very strict budget due to recent financial limitations, but it was pure luxury for us. We bought food to cook and eat on our little balcony, walked along the beach and explored the Redcliffe jetty and tourist area. We also got up early the following morning and watched the sunrise.

It's the sort of thing we should try to do more often, as an entire family. We don't manage to save enough money to do the sort of long-distance travelling that so many of us dream of doing (and I admire those who can do it), but to splash out now and then on spending a night in a place we wouldn't normally get to is a real treat.

And I'm loving the fact that mother-daughter time has become such an important thing to my beautiful girl x

We Grew an Adult!

My biggest boy turned 18 last week. It was a big deal; we even went out for a fancy family dinner at a restaurant and his grandmother bought him a drink at the bar. It wasn't his first beer, but his others have been at private houses - this was a proper legal drink at a licensed venue!

He also, a few nights later, had a get together in our back yard with a few of his mates. We live on a hillside, so it can be breezy. Also, being winter, it's a bit chilly at night. We put up tarps around our gazebo, to give them a sheltered area, and they sat around the fire pit eating hot food and toasting marshmallows. I was concerned about how the neighbours would feel about the loud hip hop music we played until 10 pm, but we've had no complaints.

Someone asked me if being the mother of an 18 year old makes ME feel old. I jokingly replied, 'Only if someone mentions it!', but the reality is, no, I don't feel old at all. I think, because my boy has been taller than me for a number of years now, and is quite mature for his age, 18 just feels to me like an age he should have already been. He is a deep soul, very open-minded and caring towards others. He observes the world around him before making judgements, and he generally thinks before he acts.

Of course, he's not perfect. It can still be a struggle to get him to help enough around the house. He fights with his sister and gets annoyed with his little brother. He doesn't always open up about what's bothering him, so we sometimes don't know there's an issue until he snaps at one of us or gets frustrated. He takes on his friends' problems and worries for them, too much sometimes. He struggled with school, and didn't complete it. Now he's job hunting ... and it can be soul-destroying to keep getting knocked back.

He's persistent though, and I've got no doubt he'll get something soon. He'll have his licence later this year and be able to do more of his own thing. When he was younger he was so shy, but now I love watching him talk to other people and seeing how much more confident he is in social situations. We see him with his cricket team mates and it's obvious he is genuinely well-liked by all of them, young and old alike. I adore his sense of humour, which is best described as dry. He's 196 cm tall, but when someone asks him what he wants to be when he 'grows up', he says, deadpan, 'Taller.'

Yeah, he's pretty funny. And a genuinely nice young man. He's growing into a really good person and we're pretty proud of being mostly responsible for that.