9: When she asserts herself.

I’ve heard that age 9 is hard, especially for girls. This is the year they want more time to themselves, and the year that the sass flows freely. Nine is the beginning of puberty. And when your mom is the co-founder of Girls to the Moon, age 9 means more talks about your body and periods and self confidence.

Nine means she is curious about bras and deodorant and tampons. Nine means lots of questions and finding the patience to answer them with truth and age-appropriate content. Nine means more heated discussions when I say no with a long pause instead of saying “because I said so” as is my instinct. Nine is a blossoming body attached to a girl who still sleeps with the blanket I wrapped her in the day she was born.

This weekend, while watching High School Musical 2 (because yes, we watched High School Musical 1 last weekend), I saw my daughter in a new light. She was not impressed one bit with the mean girl main character, and her empathetic side shined brightly when the less-than-popular characters sat alone in the cafeteria. Towards the end of the movie, she changed her outfit and decided on a bralette (a bra for tweens who don’t yet need a bra but want to wear something under shirts) and yoga pants.

She was doing her hair in the bathroom mirror and adding a crown to finish her awesome outfit, and I saw admiration in her eyes. I saw admiration for her own body and her own sense of style. I saw my daughter love her reflection in the mirror, and it made me warm with joy. The confidence of a girl, age 9, enjoying herself in a smudged bathroom mirror filled my heart and made me realize I’ve got a lot to learn from her. Now I’m working on loving my reflection in a bra and yoga pants 🙂![24959035_10159674698015052_4533017792483553607_o.jpg]