There's an 11 Year Old in the House

As of December 11, we have our very own pre-teen. Audrey, our beautiful little 3-pound preemie baby is about 65 pounds these days and quite grown up. We are so proud of her.

Audrey is in 5th grade and busy, busy every day with her school work, piano, piles of books to read, and questions about the world including weather, fashion, politics, manners, pyschology and so much more. She keeps us hopping.


I have always thought that having a teen will be much easier for me than having a toddler, so I ignore all the stories that could make me dread the teen years. At this stage of the game, Audrey would probably say that I am embarrassing, bossy, and a bit of a pain in the neck. She hates when I act weird in public and doesn't want me telling her what to do anymore. I've told her the weirdness is genetic and untreatable. As for the bossiness, she's gaining independence by leaps and bounds - pretty soon she'll be telling me what to do.

It remains to be seen, but I imagine my daughters growing up to be my friends with the teen years as a very long getting-to-know you phase. They won't be crazy about my rules and advice, so I will tread lightly and show them lots of love. We will get through it together.

Audrey is showing so much maturity and thoughtfulness. She has always been a responsible kid, and we appreciate her conscientiousness. She's also a fun and funny person. She sees the humor in a lot everyday things, and lately, one of those everyday things is her mom's forgetfulness. Audrey is a sweet big sister about 80 percent of the time - and that percentage goes up every day - and Claire is occasionally heard saying how lucky she is that her big sister will play with her. Audrey's also more than ready to share her experience and opinions with Claire as Claire makes her way toward 8.

Audrey has some serious vision issues. She says she's used to it and not to worry. I can't help but worry, and translate my concern to constant and annoying attention to keeping her prescription current and turning on lots of lights whenever she's reading or doing homework. Earlier this year, we were very happy to have a specialist tell us he was pretty sure she does not have glaucoma. She'll be seeing him once a year for some time, but so far, the news has been good.

Audrey goes to middle school next year and is a little nervous about that. It's going to be a huge change for our family and it's a good thing we have almost a year to prepare ourselves. Audrey is a Girl Scouts, takes tennis and piano, and joined a choir this fall. They sang in three concerts the weekend after her birthday. She said she liked the practices better than the performances, and we loved seeing her excitement over the music. Audrey is also an aspiring artist and writer and impresses us with her determination and attention to detail in both areas.

Audrey had a wonderful Kindergarten teacher. Mrs. Schrank had already taught for 50 years when she had Audrey in her class. Mrs. Schrank died last month and we have spent a lot of time talking about what made her so special to us. One of the things I remember well was Mrs. Schrank saying to me, about Audrey "She's just a good person. You can tell." I don't know anyone better equipped to see that in a 5 year old, but I know she was right. Audrey has an innate sense of right and wrong, a commitment to honesty, and a strong desire not to cause any harm to any person or creature.

Of course she argues with her sister and talks back to her parents and is not crazy about her household jobs or a long list of vegetables, but she is a good person. We see that every day. We are so grateful for her.