Another Milestone Reached

PunkinPie had her first sleep-over last night.

Well, TECHNICALLY, it's not her FIRST sleep-over. She's stayed overnight at Bowyer's place a bunch of times, but Bowyer is family, so that doesn't really count.

Anyway, she was wildly excited about the whole thing. Her little girlfriend called her on Friday to invite her to stay over on Monday night. We spent most of the weekend watching her bounce off the walls. At seven-thirty on Monday morning, she started packing. Seven-thirty in the morning! On the first day of April Vacation! GO BACK TO BED!!

She was a little out of control.

She was picked up yesterday in a minivan crammed with little girls and was in such a hurry to leave that she barely remembered to kiss me goodbye. Since Daddy wasn't home when she left, we crashed her party after dinner so that proper love could be given. I had hoped she would call before she went to bed, but she didn't.

She's going to be gone most of the day today - the Party Girl's mother has all kinds of activities planned for the group this afternoon - bowling, pottery painting, maybe a movie (though the weather seems to have broken, at least momentarily, so I suspect some outdoor time might be in the offering).

I HATE how much I miss her. I'm glad that she's growing up, that she's included in a group of friends, and that she has a good store of self confidence and independence, but I'm also sorry that she's growing away from us, even just a little bit. I understand it's my job to teach her how to do just that, but there are times when it's harder than others.

And I suspect it will always be so.