It's a Girl's Weekend

As the school year comes to a close, my girls host an annual end-of-year-sleepover for their friends. And because daughter Amanda finally protested that she and her friends wanted to sleep outdoors in the camper too, we relented and have split the weekend. So instead of sixteen girls for one night, there will be eight on Friday and eight on Saturday. I haven't decided which is worse...

Seriously though, my girls have great friends. I've heard so many stories about teenage girls that I often find myself feeling a little guilty that we seemed to have escaped all the drama. I know we have a way to go - we've already survived one driver's license, dating dilemmas, and college tuition with their big brother - but we feel enormously blessed to be surrounded by such confident, smart, and caring little women.

Some of these relationships started when they were just in kindergarten, while others are new just this year. Yet each girl brings out the best in one another. Having my own BFF, I know what's it's like to find someone who understands who you are and accepts you on every level - warts and all. It makes me deliriously happy to know that when I can't look out for them, these girls will.

I recently got a glimpse into the future not too long ago... I picked up Kate from a sleepover, and there they were - the Fab 4 (the original group of BFF's) - all bustling around the kitchen putting on their shoes and eating the last of the cereal, when I suddenly had a vision of them getting ready for prom, walking down the aisle to get their diplomas, and saying good-bye as they went their separate ways toward college. I had to steady myself against the door-jam just for a minute, but I felt at peace, too. I know they will be there for one another through the good and the bad. I know they will love each other like sisters – with any luck – for the rest of their lives. And I know that the relationship that my girls have with one another has somehow fostered the relationships they have now and in the future. Thank God.

So this weekend, I plan to take it all in. The video camera will be ready to capture this small space in time. And I will send a little prayer to the heavens that this is just the beginning.