My delightful daughter has been home from college for about two weeks now and I’ve been in hog heaven. We’ve been spent a lot of time together – the holidays were great making cookies and doing the last minute shopping – but what I’ve really enjoyed is just the ordinary stuff like watching TV and going to Target.
Kelsey is every bit the same lovable teenager that we dropped off at the college dorm a few months ago. She still leaves her stuff all over the house and she still watches the same TV shows (Real Housewives, Tabitha, and Millionaire Matchmaker are in heavy rotation with just a tiny bit of Toddlers & Tiaras and Dirty Jobs to shake things up a bit and prove that she we aren’t completely addicted to Bravo TV.) 
My sweet girl also enjoys the same kinds of food. I’m still cooking through the list of meals that she requested I make while she’s on home on break. Pot roast, chicken enchiladas, jambalaya, and sloppy joes made the top of the list.
{{insert kitty purr here}}
But while all of the above is true, I’ve also started noticing a few subtle differences in my delightful daughter. To start with, my once habitually-in-bed-by-10:30 p.m.-highschooler has adopted the college student lifestyle of staying up into the wee hours and sleeping til 10 or 11:00. And then there’s massive increase in texting and tweeting. Her iPhone is constantly buzzing or dinging or chirping and with lightning fast, nimble fingers she replies to each and every one.
The real difference I’ve noticed though is a huge parenting milestone. My daughter and I have now crossed an important threshold in our parent/child relationship. I remember being about the same age when I shared this milestone with my mom and it’s a real game-changer.
My daughter said “shit”… in front of me.
Actually now that I think about it, this isn’t the first time. The first time I heard Kelsey say “shit” was when she was about four years old. My sweet little girl was outside, happily drawing hearts, rainbows, and flowers with her brand new box of sidewalk chalk. Then from across the street, one of the little neighbor girls calls out, “Hi Kelsey!!” And without missing a beat {and uttering the SAME EXACT thing that I was thinking} my precious little preschooler hung her head and said, “Oh shit, here comes Kissa.”
Tripp and I had to turn around and go inside so that she wouldn’t see us laughing. When I was finally able to compose myself, I went back outside with my stern mom face and explained to my sweet girl that “shit” is not a nice word and that she mustn’t say it. Which was quite possibly the worst instance of the pot calling the kettle black EVER.
I wonder how many times I can use the word “shit” in this post without getting on some kind of offensive blacklist??
Anyway, I still have a little over a week until Kelsey goes back to school. I’m sure it will go by fast, but I am looking forward to more cooking, Bravo, and shit.
Peace, the potty mouth.
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