Shallow Television

Burger isn't feeling well tonight, so she's been hanging out watching television like a lump on the couch. Which means that I'm being subject to a show called "The Millionaire Matchmaker". Can I just say OMG. There are all these women who are so insanely shallow on this show, and I can't even believe this crap is on television. Even more so, I can't believe that I'm being subjected to it. And that I haven't left the room.
I'm going to need a long shower after this, because it's just skanky.

Halloween Costumes and Teenage Girls

Today I took Burger out shopping for a Halloween costume, and oh my - I've apparently gotten old and stodgy all of a sudden. Finding a costume that I didn't find entirely inappropriate was much harder than I had expected it to be. Most of the costumes are low cut and very short, and I guess I'm not as ready as I think I am for such things on my 14 year old! The odd thing is that I ended up insisting on one costume because, while it's skimpy, it's at least not entirely slutty (cheerleaders wear less clothing). It's still less modest than I want to encourage her to wear, but I guess it is what it is...

Yes, my darling Burger will be Supergirl, sans 6" heels. I can't believe this was more okay than the other costumes.

For some reason, she refused my idea of being a large furry creature of some kind. Sigh.

Burger's Travel Adventure

Burger was supposed to leave Baltimore yesterday afternoon to fly home (she was at gymnastics camp last week, and has been visiting friends and family in the Maryland area since Sunday). The plane that was supposed to take her home was stuck in Pittsburgh with the bad weather there yesterday, so she sat at BWI (the airport) most of the day yesterday. 8:00 pm rolled around and the plane was still not going to leave BWI until after 10. Problem is that Orange County airport (where she's supposed to land) does NOT allow planes to land after 10 pm - so she would have had to have left BWI before 7 pm in order to make it home last night. The plane she was supposed to be on was going as far as Phoenix last night and was going to leave for Orange County this morning.

We could NOT imagine letting Burger travel to Phoenix by herself and letting her find a hotel there on her own. No way. Hubby called the airline and explained the situation, and they put her on a flight out of BWI this morning, and she'll be home around 1 PM today. Thank heaven. Whew.

Burger was with my brother, his wife, and their 6 kids the night before last, and my Hubby talked to my brother earlier to ask if they could pick Burger up again from the airport, just in case. Then he talked to Burger, was bummed she didn’t get to see a good friend of the family while she was in town, and she asked that Hubby check if she could go to said family friend’s house to spend the night. She was picked up at the airport, fed, and given some company and a nice warm bed for the night, and while she was still sad that she wasn’t able to make it home yesterday, she sounded mostly okay when I talked to her before she went to sleep last night.

I hope she's learned a little about being independent. I wasn't too worried, because she was in a controlled environment, and I knew we'd have a safe place for her to stay no matter what. I am SO glad she didn't have to spend the night in Phoenix alone -- had that looked like that was going to happen, I would have called the one person I know in Arizona and begged for help!

On Parenting

A recent conversation, copied from Instant Messenger:

Burger says: could you and daddy please talk about unlimited texting?

Mom says: burger, we have and the answer is no. it costs too much right now

Burger says: ughh finee, but seriously. maybe a little more than 100? thats really extremely harsh

Mom says: not true. no phone is harsh. this is nice

Burger says: i hate you for your cruel ways of making me feel stupid.

Burger says: haha

The questions are: is the child too sassy? Should we take away her phone?

The answers are probably, and no. Because we created this mess. The child has ALWAYS had to deal with not just one, but two overly sarcastic parents. Did she mean that she really hates me (as some I've shared this with have thought)? Not a chance. She was saying, "oh. okay, now you've gone and made me feel like an idiot, and that bugs me. but yeah, you're right."

I wonder how much damage we've done, and what she'll have to go through to get others to understand that the snarkiness is cute. Or something like that...

My Girl Burger

Burger's 14th birthday is today. Where has the time gone? Burger walked early, talked early (first words: want bottle - it sounded more like wam babble, but it was very clearly something other than babbling, and then she said the exact same thing the next day), and had very little hair until she was three. For a while, she had puffy hair - it all stood straight up on top of her head. Now her hair is long and thick, with just enough wave in it. I'm utterly jealous of it.

Burger's First Birthday

This child makes me smile constantly - she's fun, smart, and beautiful (although she doesn't believe it). She's open, honest, and trustworthy. She loves animals, her cell phone, and gymnastics, and is starting to like (OMG) boys. Inevitable, I know, and I'm shocked at how little it's affecting me - I thought I'd be all freaked out, but I'm not, and it's actually kind of neat to see her growing up and the hints of womanhood appearing. But I do miss the little girl who never talked back, who believed I knew more than she did, and who loved nothing more than to have a good cuddle.

Burger's 4th Birthday

Time passes, kids grow up, and what we're left with is larger people. If we're lucky, the child inside isn't completely gone and an occasional cuddle is still acceptable. But more and more, the door to her room is shut, and she's on the phone or IMing with friends. We're hitting the time when she starts to push away. I feel very lucky because she doesn't hate us, she still talks to us, and that she's a fun kid who has great ideas and deep thoughts and shares them with us.

Burger's Fifth Birthday

We're past the stage of hay rides and petting zoos, we're past Candyland and Break the Ice, we're past footie pajamas and Barbie nightgowns. We're past losing baby teeth, going to the circus, riding ponies. We still dye easter eggs and Santa still shows up, and the jack-o-lanterns get cut every year, but how much longer will she want to put up with these things? Will we hit a point where her parents aren't fun to hang out with? Will she push too far away, where we can't reach out and touch her? I hope not, because she's so very precious to my heart, and I'm already pained that she doesn't want me to reach out and push her hair behind her ear anymore.

Happy birthday, my darling girl. Always be true to yourself.