A New “Direction”

I went into Daniella’s room to say good night, last night, and she was reading this magazine about the British boy band One Direction.

She had borrowed it from a friend and was pouring over every article about how the boys became a group on the X Factor.  Daniella didn’t miss a detail about Louis, Niall, Zayn, Liam and Harry’s eye color, first pet and favorite snacks.  She glanced up when I walked in and said, “Oh, mommy look, it’s Niall!  ISN’T HE DREAMY?”  It stopped me in my tracks. Was she really talking about a boy…and did she actually just call him dreamy?

Honestly, I wanted to grab the magazine and run out of the room shouting, “You’re only 10…you CAN’T like boys yet!!” Instead, I took a deep breath and sat down on the bed with her.  For the next half hour we read page after page about 18 year old Niall.

I now know that he’s the only One Direction member that’s not from England…he was born and raised in Ireland.  His favorite sport is football, favorite drink is Coca-Cola and favorite color is blue.

I said, “Daniella, what is it that you like so much about Niall?”  Without a moments hesitation she said, “His blond hair, blue eyes and the fact that he looks so much like Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter! He’s just so cute, Mommy!”

Ahhhh, so this wasn’t Daniella’s first celebrity crush.  She had secretly had a crush on Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, for at least a couple of years. The truth comes out.

Wow, my little girl is really growing up. She is 10 now, after all.  I know we all wish that we could keep them small and innocent forever but, I didn’t realize how difficult it would actually be to watch her become a tween.  I just wish it would all slow down a little.

I really want to be the kind of mom my daughter feels she can talk to about anything.

Maybe that’s wishful thinking and easier said than done but, I’ve been working on it for the last couple of years.

I often bite my tongue and resist the urge to say things like, “You’re too young to be thinking about boys,” or “Isn’t this show a little too grown up for you?” Instead, we sit down and talk about it or we watch the show together to see if it’s appropriate. We have great conversations at bed time. Is she telling me everything? Maybe not, but we do have some really open and honest talks about boys, her girlfriends, school and puberty. She told me that she feels comfortable talking to me about “this kind of stuff,” and that’s really all I can ask for.

I have a feeling it’s all going to change when Daniella starts 5th grade in the fall.  Maybe then I’ll be writing a totally different blog about how she won’t talk to me and how our great conversations have been replaced with eye rolling and door slamming.  I sure hope not…but, I’m not living in a fantasy world, either. So, for now, I’m just going to savor each and every moment….