I forget sometimes that our daughter is a teenager cause she makes rearing her so easy. She is considerate and conservative in her manner and witty like her Dad.

Then there are times like last night where the natural exuberance of being almost fifteen overwhelms her.

She has two friends who moved away last year (Tenn and ND) who we knew would be visiting over Springbreak next week. The gang had "plans." You know that amorphous thing that will one day grow up to be a well planned itenerary but no, not yet.

Last night as we are getting ready to go to dinner after hearing the litany of what Christie needs for a trip to Myrtle Beach (today), Katie lets drop that, "Oh Yeah, the gang has plans for this weekend but I don't know particulars. Mom, will you let me know if there is mail for me when you check email?"

As Les is MOLing at an event Saturday and we have to pick up Christie on time on Friday and we have plans for Easter with Les's parents on Sunday and I was supposed to run errands for Coronation on Saturday....I started to twitch.

And there she was. Beautiful, sweet, fourteen and totally clueless that logistics might be an issue. I remembered back to my teen years when my Dad came home after working two jobs and if you wanted to go somewhere on the weekend his default response was, "I don't see any need of it." I remembered the great sense of need and urgency I felt and the panic that my only hope was if Mom could make it happen.

So, Katie called her friend and now we know the full extent. Three sleepovers: Friday, Sunday and Monday. Zoo, movie and the mall on Saturday. Pick ups on Saturday ? time, Monday at noon and Tues at 0800. (No, Les and I do not get a Spring Break from work.) We go to get presents (required for one of the parties) and came home to pack. No dinner, no time except for soup. We had a mini-rant about respecting parents as you expect to be respected but that was it. I did fall back on a "back in the day" moment and told her that if we had done this last minute we would not have gone. Funny, the look of worry in her eyes did not make me feel better only worse.

Les, Kate and I modified plans as we could and it will be hectic but.... we decided to be parents didn't we.

Late last night before she went to bed she came and sat with me on the couch. All snuggled in like when she was little. I told her that raising her was so easy that when she had a "teen moment" it was a little harder for her dad and I as we don't know to expect them.

Odd, we only have a few more years with her home...can't make them about the occasional issues.