Mother & Daughter time....

Mom and daughter time is very important. Much more so in my house where my son is the oldest and there is 5 years between my two. "Derek gets to do EVERYthing" is often heard here. He IS almost 19 (yikes!), in college and pretty much on his own to an extent. So yes, he gets to do a lot of 'everything'. Leah on the other hand, is almost 14, in Junior High and still very much too young to do a lot of things. So it feels like to her that her brother gets to "get away with" more than she does.
Yesterday, she and I spent the day cleaning and de-cluttering the house. She was a big help and we achieved a bunch! I now have my living room and kitchen area back to an organized manner. I'd let things slide a bit getting ready for the arts & crafts show. So the junk mail had piled up and things just seemed in disarray. Leah even swept off the back deck and tidied it up without being asked. Then we both pitched in and cleaned the kid/guest bathroom. I made taco's for a late lunch/early dinner meal.
After all of our hard work, I decided she and I needed a 'treat'. So we both showered and headed to town. First stop was by Blockbuster for some movies. We haven't rented any in a while so there are always several 'non-seen' movies to pick. We settled on 'Monster-in-law' and 'Miss Congeniality 2'. Chick flick movies! We headed from there over to the local Diary Queen and grabbed some chocolate treats. Mmmmmmm good!
Last night we watched 'Monster-in-law'. It was fun to just relax and enjoy a movie together.
Her brother came in right after we had finished up viewing the deleted scenes. He was full of tales of the mornings deer hunt.
I really can't relate to being a 'younger' child and feeling the things that Leah feels from being the 'baby' in the house, because I was the oldest growing up and got to blaze the trails of life first. I didn't have those 'left out' or 'too young' feelings. So I am trying to be mindful of hers. She however, likes to make that as difficult for me as possible! *LOL* I love that she is very much her own person, however her 'attitude' gets between us often. We work on it constantly. I try to hear her out and she really does try to curb it at times.
I think it is very important for us to have our 'girl' time - doing something fun - like movies and a treat. She is also a big help, when she is in the right frame of mind. There have been many discussions about the 'difference' there is between her and her brother. Maybe I do expect a little more from her. Derek is easy, non-confrontational - has always applied himself to school work with very little followup. Leah needs more direction, but is argumentative ~ always needing to get that last word. I think it has to do with clashing hormones!
I've told her just again this week, that I really want us to have a close relationship to merge that friendship and the fact that I am STILL the 'parent'. It is an ongoing project. I enjoyed our team work effort yesterday and the 'girls' fun of the evening. Hopefully we are making strides.