While Little Miss 6 was in a dance show earlier today, we took the other children swimming for the afternoon. It’s perhaps the second time we have gone as a family, and made us realise that we need to do it far more often - you know, like every other week often.
While taking my turn with our eldest in the adult pool - we already taught her to swim - she came out with the strangest observation in ages…
“Dad, how come you’re not fat like the other Dads?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well you look like the swimmers on the telly - they don’t”
I laughed, and did an imaginary high five. Quite the compliment from a nine year old
Thinking about it later this afternoon, I’m just wondering if it’s the very beginning of the part of her life that we’ve been dreading. I remarked to my better half while she was larking around in the pool that her body shape is starting to change - hips and a waste are appearing out of nowhere. Perhaps the hormones responsible for that are also changing her brain.
Damnit - she’s only 9. She’s not allowed to start growing up yet!
Is this really the beginning of a long goodbye to the the happy-go-lucky tomboy ?
At the school camping evening the other week, she asked a throw-away question about a certain boy being there… and informed me that she didn’t like him (even a simple guy like me knows what that means).
So yeah - noticing that I kind of look after myself means we’re probably at the start of… ooo… a decade or two of hell? “I don’t like my clothes”, “do you think (insert name) likes me?”, “I’m never leaving the house again”, “it’s not fair - my friends wear that
Like I said though. No growing up yet. She’s not allowed.