Growing

I find it absolutely amazing that my daughter is growing into her own person. I knew it would happen but it seems to be happening very quickly now. The independence is becoming quite apparent in our day to day lives now. I no longer walk her into school in the morning. I drop her off at the corner and watch her walk away from me into her new school full of new people and friends. The joy I experience when I realize my daughter is a little odd and has found a niche in her new school where this is accepted. No longer is she teased because she likes David Bowie and does not listen to 50 cent or various other musicians that I do not listen to. She likes Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Air, Cornelius and the Pogues, fine taste in music I think. I am so very proud that she is developing her own sense of who she is and not what other people think she should be.

Though she is having a rocky start in some classes, as they are very different from what she thought they would be things are going well. She is using her mind and being reintroduced to the arts we thought she might never have again due to the cuts in public school funding for such programs. Creative thinking is not encouraged in many public schools today due Bush's wonderful "No Child Left Behind" act. Seems like most schools spend their time teaching the kids how to pass the barrage of standardized tests that get thrown at them during the year. Crap, crap, crap. We would not like the kids to actually think just do what they are told like good little bees in the hive.

I am happy to say that this year she has Latin, with a wonderful teacher, arts, creative writing, theater and music. She also will have a large choice of after school programs from the National Academic team to sports to plays.

I am just so proud of her as I sit here typing listening to her sing and apply her self to her summary of her Latin seminar on Friday. Growing so quickly, becoming so quickly, and I am enjoying at least 89% of it.

Puuurrrrr

XXX