The Thoughtful Teen

My teenager surprised me.

Not once but TWICE today.

I took her out with me after dinner tonight just to get out of the house for awhile together. We went to a mall, I got a decaf mocha (I'm 40 and I can't drink caffeine at night, I already have problems sleeping) and what did she get? A Monster drink (you know, the energy drink!)

That wasn't the surprise.

She had money burning a hole in her wallet (it was her birthday last week). We went to a couple of stores. I saw a necklace and said how pretty it was. She tried on a top and went to the register to pay for it while I was looking around. I went over to the counter when I saw her and she told me to go away. I was like, WHAT? Why? Then it occurred to me that she was trying to buy me that necklace on the sly.

I felt terrible. She has NEVER spent her money on ME! I told her to put the necklace back, I didn't need it. She should keep her money for herself. The necklace was $25. That is a lot for a 14 year old to spend on her mom as far as I was concerned. Plus if I wanted the necklace, I could just buy it myself.

I was so surprised by her doing this . I think my jaw is still on the floor at this moment. She has bought her 3 year old sister little things to surprise her but has NEVER done that for me. I was shocked and proud to be her mom at the same time for thinking of doing something unexpected for someone else.

As if that wasn't enough for me to pull out a thermometer, take her temperature and make her stay in bed for a week (or start drug testing her)...

...after we got home, she was listening to her iPod in her room. I went in to see what she was doing and she said: Listen to this song, it reminds me of you. So I sat to listen to it and tears started streaming down my face.

The song was: Butterfly Fly Away by Miley Cyrus from the Hannah Montana movie. Do you know it?

If you don't know it, here are the lyrics:

You tucked me in, turned out the light
Kept me safe and sound at night
Little girls depend on things like that

Brushed my teeth and combed my hair
Had to drive me everywhere
You were always there when I looked back

You had to do it all alone
Make a living, make a home
Must've been as hard as it could be

And when I couldn't sleep at night
Scared things wouldn't turn out right
You would hold my hand and sing to me

Caterpillar in the tree
How you wonder who you'll be
Can't go far but you can always dream

Wish you may and wish you might
Don't you worry, hold on tight
I promise you there will come a day
Butterfly fly away

Butterfly fly away(butterfly fly away)
Got your wings, now you can't stay
Take those dreams and make them all come true

Butterfly fly away(butterfly fly away)
You've been waiting for this day
All along and know just what to do

The past 9 months in particular have been difficult between my teenager and me (click here for a little insight on that) and she has pushed me away at times so this was really truly a lot coming from her especially all in one day.

I did, as I usually do, try to make her birthday special last week. I even took her to see the new Zach Efron movie (17 Again) yesterday. Maybe she appreciates me more than I think she does. I don't know. I'm trying to figure her out.

I needed to document this day because tomorrow she will most likely wake up and start rolling her eyes at me just for being in the same room as her!

It was a good day to be a mom to a teenage girl and feel like maybe I am doing something right after all.