Growing up I was never super girly. I loved dress up, sure, and princesses and Barbies. But I still loved to play outside under the big shady trees in front of my old apartment (I moved when I was 6). I loved camping and swimming and playing Cowboys and Indians with my boy cousins. When you live in Utah, there are lots of recreational activities to be involved in.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve stopped doing sports less. The last time I signed up for a sport was soccer in 2011. I’ve come to realize that I’m not the sporty person. I still love to kick around a soccer ball, and go camping, and I LOVE to swim. I even taught myself, and I was very proud when, at the age of 12, went off the diving board for the first time. I even went off the high dive without backing down- something my fearless friend Alissa chickened out of 2 times when she was little.

I’m not girly either. I don’t really fuss over my appearance. I’ve decided that if I comb my hair, put on clean clothes, and looked presentable, that’s fine and all that matters. I like bright colors, and that is really all. I hardly ever wear nail polish- my mom uses and wears it more than I do. The closest thing I own to perfume is body spray I got at a birthday party. I have a Tinker Bell makeup kit and a little thing of eye shadow and blush and that’s really it.

I’m the only girl in my family other than my mom. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if my mom feels saddened by the fact that her only daughter doesn’t care for makeup or dances, and that I don’t much care for such things. I sometimes wonder if my mom feels like she’s missing all the fun a mom has with having a teenage daughter- seeing her try makeup for the first time; seeing her off to dances with a date; helping her fix her hair and shopping at the mall.

But then I realized: it isn’t those things a mother loves the most about a daughter’s teenage years. It’s watching her grow and realize who she is as a person. It’s the joys of seeing her begin to be able to do big things. It’s about being there when needed.
But most of all, it’s about the love she will receive from her daughter that a mother loves the most.

I don’t need trips to the mall to spend time with mom. We can bond over simple things, like the TV show “Who Do You Think You Are” on TLC that we like, or reruns of “Little House on the Prairie.” We can even spend time together watching Good Morning America! We can spend time together talking about books, or even sitting at the counter talking while we eat peaches like we did this week.

There will come a day when my mom can see me off to dances with tears in her eyes, or when I’ll go out with friends (and not just for a youth activity).

But for my mother, I know that the best thing will be watching me grow and mature. I couldn’t ask for anything else.