Young, r-e-a-l-l-y young, Love.

Yesterday was a tough day for the baby girl and I.

She’ll be 13 in about a month, and she’s growing up a little faster than I prefer. It’s times like this that I long for Papa’s wisdom, input and support. In fact, yesterday when we were discussing the situation I asked her, "Just what would your Papa say about this issue? Would he approve?" I believe it made her think about things from a different perspective and in my thinking, it gives Papa some influence over her behavior, even though he’s not physically here. I have to believe he’s right here spiritually or it would make all of this that much harder.

Abbie’s found her first love. He’s 12 too. Since he doesn’t go to her school, but still lives on the outskirts of town, they spend a lot of time on the Instant Messenger, which is okay with me as long as other stuff, like schoolwork doesn’t suffer. His hair’s a little too long for my taste and he even has a hint of a mustache. At 12! He prefers to dress in the skater style, which can be a little gloomy. But, he seems like a nice and polite young man. Ab’s an aspiring rock star, so outside of school (thank goodness for uniforms) she can dress pretty dark as well.

So, last week she asked if John could come over to our house to watch movies and play video games with her and her best friend. I agreed, with the understanding that I would be here and visible the whole time and that they stayed here. There was to be no wandering aimlessly around town, or just "hanging out at the park." I am a firm believer in structured and supervised teen activities, especially after the trouble that Bubba was able to get it to, so no park time for this young lady. It was understood that they all could go out in the front yard and talk if they wanted to, if they felt the parental presence was a little too close. I explained and she understood that I would be nearby, but minding my own business throughout the visit.

We drove to Blockbuster and I allowed them to go pick out a movie while I picked up a few things in the grocery store in the same shopping center. Then we headed home and Ab found out that her girlfriend wouldn’t be able to come over for another hour or so. That’s when the whining began. "Ma-uuuumm, she can’t come over for a-noth-er hour! What are we going to do?" I told the princess that we had plenty of other movies that they could watch until she arrived and was informed that "Weeeeee donnnnnnnn’t haaaavvve eeeeennnnythhhhiiiinnnggg" worth watching.

So, I explained to her that it was not my responsibility to arrange their entertainment, although I’d make a few suggestions as stupid and "adult" as they were…..You can watch television or a select a movie out the hundreds that live in the entertainment center. You can find something to eat. Have a picnic in the front yard. Go sit on the front porch on the bench and talk. Figure it out. But, I left a big loophole. BIG MISTAKE. I didn’t reiterate what I’d said earlier about wandering aimlessly about town, etc. Silly me. I thought I’d made that perfectly clear.

As the front door shut, I walked upstairs to do a few things, thinking they’d decided to hang out in the front yard. After about 10 minutes, I decided to make my presence known, so I found something that I needed to put in my car and headed outside. They were nowhere to be found! I panicked and was also thoroughly pissed off. I called out her name. No answer. The neighbor kid was washing his car and I hollered to him and asked if Ab and John were over there. No, he said, but he did see them heading "That way!" as he pointed up the street.

I jumped in my car and went looking for them. I drove up and down each nearby street and was amazed that they could just "disappear" in that amount of time. After about 15 minutes of searching, I headed back home with the hope that they’d made it back while I was gone.

Nope.

I busied myself with little things and tried to keep my temper in check. Having promised Abbie that I wouldn’t "embarrass" her, I considered the impact of such a memorable scene once I found them or they got back to the house. But oh how I was tempted to make an unforgettable "Mama Monster" moment! Let me tell you…it ain’t pretty.

Again, as it was nearly an hour that they were gone, I once again jumped in the car and started searching for them. Fifteen more minutes pass and still no young lovers to be found. Ok, that’s it. All bets are off girlfriend!

I headed home again, and as I turned the corner I could just barely see two figures dressed in dark clothing at the opposite end of the street, and I headed that way. As I pulled up I could see John’s arm around Ab’s waist and they were walking in the field. When Ab noticed me, she pushed John’s arm away as I got closer. I pulled up next to them, opened the window and said angrily, "Get in!" Of course I got the "Whhhhhhyyyyy?" I advised Abbie that she knew exactly why and that if she didn’t want to be totally embarrassed in front of her friend, she’d better do as I instructed. I informed her that I would be taking John home right that very minute and that’s not what she wanted to hear. It was then that she made her 2nd big mistake of the day when I was once again forced to tell her "GET IN!" She had the nerve to say "NO!"

I believe she had the presence of mind to rethink her position when my eyes began rolling back in my head, my hair stood on end and I started frothing at the mouth. Additional consideration was evident when I threw the car in park and started to open the driver’s door with the full intention of providing her with the assistance she needed to GET IN and sit politely in the front seat of the car. Although the trunk was also an option at that point.

John, had enough common sense right then to get in and Ab followed suit. He remained quiet as I explained that since Ab chose to disobey me, I was taking him home. Ab yelled, "But Mom, we didn’t do ennythhhhinnggg!" I told her that I wasn’t accusing her of doing anything except disobeying me and that was the bottom line. After she told me to just "Stop" talking to her about it, we drove to John’s house in silence.

When we arrived home, I told Ab that she was barred from the computer for the rest of the day and that she was grounded for the time being. We decided to calmly discuss the situation later when she was ready because as she says, "You’re sooooo annoying!"

That’s right baby girl!

Annoying. Concerned. Protective.

All of the above, and more. Just your basic ol’ mother, trying to do her job.

All by myself, with a heart full of love.