I know I brag on my kids a lot.  It’s what a mom does.  But I do have some of the best kids.  Not perfect, no one is.  But pretty darned good.

In the more than a year since we’ve lived in Colorado, both of my girls have had to make some pretty severe adjustments.  They left everything they knew, their friends, their hangouts, the comforts of “what had always been” to start a new life.  For Tater, who’s now 10, this wasn’t nearly as hard a transition as it was for the Perfect Child, who is now 19.

The Perfect Child, as you remember, turned 18 halfway through our cross-country move.  She drove one of the cars at highway speeds for two days, with a license that barely had the ink dry on it.  She worked as hard as anyone helping to pack, load up, unload, and unpack.  She had to make new friends, find a job, and find things to keep her busy.  She is one of the bravest kids I know, for sure, but sometimes, she’s so shy it is painful.  None of that has changed in the last year, but she’s still a mature young woman with a wonderful future in front of her.

Just this last month, after a year of temping with the same factory, she was offered a full-time job.  The pay is better than the temp agency, and offers benefits like retirement and health insurance and vacation.  The temp agency was sad to lose her, but happy that she had done so well that a company wanted to hire her.  The company she works for, VaporTech, has not hired a new employee in years, that’s how good they are at retaining quality employees.  She has slipped into her new role like a pro, and likes to tell me every day the new things she’s learned.  As a temp, they kept her on a specific (and small) set of duties.  As a full-time employee, she is getting to know everything.  She is “in charge” of her shift, even has a temp working with her that she has to manage and keep busy.  How she has jumped into this with her whole heart and mind has made me really proud.  At her age, I was also doing factory work in the summers while I was going to college.  She’ll be the best employee they may ever have.

The Perfect Child has also found herself a decent boyfriend.  He works hard, he plays hard, he can fix cars, and doesn’t mind getting dirty.  While they may not be a forever couple (he’s only 20, she’s only 19), they are good for each other right now, and are good to each other.  He’s moon over stars in love with her, but then again, who wouldn’t be? She’s that kind of girl.

The Tater has had the added stress of changing schools already once since our move.  She is good at making friends and getting along with people, and the teachers and administrators always love her.  She is caring and kind and has the sense of “fairness” that I always saw with her older brother and sister.  She takes care of those that can’t take care of themselves, and wants to please.

When we moved from our first rental house to the one we live in now (and intend to stay in for a long time), we let her finish the school year, but started her at a school closer to our home for this school year.  It was a whole new thing for her.  Instead of getting a ride to school, she had to walk by herself the two blocks there.  She needed to be able to let herself in the house when she came home, because most days the house is empty when she gets home.  This meant she had to get a house key and not lose it.  With her level of ADHD, this is a complex task.  It wouldn’t seem to be for a ten year old, but it is.

But she’s done well.  She was only locked out once, and that was only for about 10 minutes until her sister came home from work.  She has been pretty good about making sure she has her key with her now.  She doesn’t want to take any chances!

She’s still my Child of Mystery.  It’s hard to figure out what she’s into, what she wants to do with her free time, where she is going in her life.  I know, she’s only 10, but usually kids have a pretty good inkling of what they want.  This year she changed her mind about her Halloween costume at least twice, in the last weeks leading up to Halloween.  It’s hard to predict what will get her excited, and what will just make her go “ho, hum.”  Buying Christmas presents for her is an adventure, for sure.  She can be an active child, playing outside and with her friends, but she’s just as happy parked in front of the television, a habit I’d like to break.

My girls bring me so much joy.  I can count on them to be who they are, without fail, and to still need me.  Most days, anyway.  It’s nice to be needed.

Wouldn’t trade ’em for anything!

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2012 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.