Growing Pains

Today I took my daughter to the doctor for a physical. She is 13 and needed to be cleared to play lacrosse. I hadn't given the appointment much thought, thinking only how much of my day would the long wait in the germ infested waiting room take and would the visit be covered under my ever-diminishing health insurance coverage. We checked in got forms to fill out and had a seat. 2 minutes later we were called in.

I should have realized this appointment would be different when one of the forms was for Julia to fill out and not me. It was a form about depression and peer pressure. As I watched her fill it out and read the questions, looking up at me as if to say "Why are they asking me this", I realized how much time has gone by.

Gone are the days when I had to haul the car seat in from the car along with my purse, keys and mammoth diaper bag. Often there would be a second kid in tow (Julia's brother Ben) and most times I was running late with the telltale "spit up" shoulder. Neither of my kids will ever be weighed in the small little scales that are in the exam rooms. Now they stand tall, reaching for every inch, straightening and perhaps growing right in front of my eyes.

Instead of the visit being about where my daughter fell on the growth chart or what types of food she was eating or even a nagging ear infection this visit focused on drugs, peer pressure and sex. Talk of how long she'd been walking was replaced by menstrual cramps and bullying. The shots offered this time weren't for the flu or chicken pox. Nope. It was for the human papilloma virus spread from sexual intercourse.

Oh. My. God. She's growing up right before my eyes. It doesn't seem possible that she could be old enough to answer such daunting questions about drug use and depression. But she is and she did. She handled all the questions with blunt honesty and candor.

She's my little girl. Only she's not so little anymore.