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