I can’t believe Emma Kelly is about to be in the first grade!! I’m sad because it just puts her one year closer to leaving me. But when I get all weepy-eyed about it, that’s when EK walks over and strokes my hair, telling me, “It’s okay, Mommy. I’m going to go to college, but I’ll come back home.” So yay for that.

But I’m also thrilled that school is starting back because that means that until 3:15pm Monday thru Friday, I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!! I can go to lunch with my girlfriends…I can get my roots dyed…I can get that mammogram I’ve been putting off…I can hang out in the dollar store…the possibilities are endless!!

Yes, summers are HARD. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my daughter. Like right now, we’re sitting in the library and she’s reading the last 3 hours worth of summer homework while I’m typing out a side boob script and a blog. This is bonding!!! I have to confess, I’m not the best when it comes to playing princess…or book store…or doctor’s office….or ANYTHING where Emma Kelly is in charge of all the rules. My child has a very vivid imagination and she comes up with some wildly creative ways to express it, but heaven forbid I stray from the script in her head because then it’s just Pout-a-Palooza and that equals zero fun for me. I wonder where she gets that from……….

I’ll tell you the truth — being the mother of a strong-willed child has been a huge wakeup call. It’s like I’m looking at her, but God is holding up a mirror so I’m actually just looking back at myself. And through this almost seven years of raising my little strong-willed, ill-tempered brat, I’ve had to admit to myself that I, too, can be a bit of a brat. Just a bit. On rare occasions. Is it something I’ll eventually grow out of?