Where Are You Going, Little One?

When my kids were little, there was this sweet song on one of their lullaby tapes and it said "Where are you going, my little one, little one, where are you going, my baby, my own? Turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four, turn around and you're a young girl, going out of the door." Well, I turned around and my "little one", Hayley, has a whole life of her own. If she had her driver's license (which she SAYS she's getting over midwinter break next week, but I'll believe that when I see her pulling into the driveway........), she'd be even more independent, but no matter, she has friends who drive. And every day she's out of the house before I wake up, and every night she shows up around dinner time or often later, having been at play practice, meetings, etc. For twelve or more hours a day, I know not what she's doing. Sure, for six of those hours, she's in school, but after that? She has this whole life that doesn't involve me. And it's both weird and satisfying. I mean, don't we all raise our kids to be independent someday? This is how it's supposed to go. She only has one more year of high school and then who knows? College, maybe nearby, maybe not! Either way, she's living her own life now and moving in her own direction. Seems all our interactions now involve money - as in "mom, can I have some money?" Time to get a job, I guess! When I was her age, I had been working for over a year in a daycare center, making $3.50 an hour, every day after school from 3-6 p.m. and five or six hours a day in the summer. Seemed all I did was work. I wasn't that involved in school activities, so working was my social outlet and something I loved. Hayley is so busy she doesn't even have TIME for work. But this summer she will and as soon as she's driving, it'll be just one more step towards total independence. Weird. Still, she baked cupcakes last night and left the oven on all night, so I guess she needs SOME guidance yet. "Turn around and you're tiny, turn around and you're grown, turn around and you're a young girl with babes of your own."