Even though today is the ACTUAL DAY we close on the Carriage Hill house (no, really, I’m over it), this post isn’t actually about that.
Today I’m marveling at the fact Catie seems to be growing up at the rate of a year every other day. I mean, besides the fact she’s so tall and can easily stretch out across at the old clubhouse she used to fit in so easily.
Case in point: this weekend she had a sleepover. Catie’s neighborhood friend, Grace, invited her to her church youth group for Mattress Surfing. If you’re wondering the love language of tweens, I’m here to tell you it’s jumping on a mattress and sliding down some stairs belly-first. The LOVED it.
I did stay awake until they got home at 9:30, but just barely. As soon as the girls walked in the door, I hugged them and went to bed. (Obviously. It was 9:30 at night). I left M in charge and told the girls to get some sleep.
According to M, this is when Catie started acting like a nineteen year old. She popped some popcorn for them, and put in Princess Diaries 2, which, so appropriately, features mattress surfing (who knew?). M, always up for a movie, even one he’s seen a few times (and even if it’s The Worst Movie Ever, Barbie Rapunzel), sat down to watch with them.
Catie said, “Um, Dad. Could you please not hang out with us?”
So, he did what any dad who still feels like his daughter is four, even though she’s almost nine would do, he hung out in the next room and made sure they were okay.
Then he sent them to bed and told them to call if they needed anything. Which they did. Because it’s impossible for Catie to go to sleep without fifteen different issues. It’s part of her charm. She may be growing up, but she can invent “my covers hurt” problems like a champ.
After he turned the air-conditioning down for them (after midnight!) they fell asleep. In the morning, the girls proudly reported they stayed up to see 1 AM. But, as another sign of the times, it didn’t rock Catie’s world the way it would have a couple months ago.
Yes, she was more tired the rest of the weekend. Yes, she fell down a little more than usual–but that’s not a huge difference for any Hergenrader.
The weekend was also filled with other big kid adventures like signing up for swim team (can you see my “this is crazy” face through the computer? This face is because of the seven thousand forms and mile-long line to GET A SPOT ON THE TEAM), singing in church, and calling her best friend in Nebraska to giggle on the phone for an hour.
After Catie’s hugely successful big-kid weekend, I’m off to sign a million papers to sell the house where she was born (not literally at our house, you know) and say goodbye to one more part of our little-kid Catie.
No, really, I’m over it.
