Never grow up

We've been listening to A LOT of Taylor Swift in the Beck family lately.  In the van, in the kitchen, in Caroline's room - chances are if you are a fly on the wall of our lives right now you'll hear "Speak Now" at some point in the day.  Taylor (I'm sure she wouldn't mind me calling her that) has a song on that album called "Never Grow Up."  And as a side note, whether you like Taylor Swift as a musician or not, the girl can write a song.  "Never Grow Up" is a really sweet tribute to the inoocence of being young, the burning desire kids have to grow up and take control, with a reminder to take the time to enjoy this moment in life - for both parents and kids. 

One line that gets me every time says "And don't lose the way that you dance around in your pj's getting ready for school."  I immediately picture Caroline and Charlotte with tousled hair, bare feet, and rosy cheeks from a night spent under the warm covers dancing through the kitchen with early morning light peeking through the blinds, Taylor Swift (ironically?), Justin Bieber (or as Charlotte calls him, "The other Taylor Swift", but that's a whole other story!) playing on the CD player. Camille is bobbing up and down, clapping and "singing" to the music, usually with a bottle in hand in her high chair, watching these two girls she looks up to in every sense of the phrase. 

There is so much life that happens in moments like that and it does make me want to tell them to never grow up.At the same time, my response to Taylor's song, is that I long for my girls to grow up, and grow up well, and experience these little moments of their own.  It's a much-needed and wonderful reminder that even though part of me wants to keep them small enough to curl up on my lap in the mornings, the other part of me desires so much for them to find their own beautiful lives to live well.  And for Jeff and me to have done the job God gave to do for them: helping them to become who He made them to be and teaching them first to love Him, love others, and choose joy.