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Just the Way We Are

Teen Girl had had a rough day, as often happens for teen girls in middle school.

moody teen girlAt dinner, each of us — Dad, Mom, and Tween Brother — did our best to help her feel better from the trials of her day, but the meal ended with Teen Girl in tears, dramatically fleeing from the table in favor of a flounce on her bed.

After awhile I went up to simply abide with her. I laid facing her with my hand on her shoulder, saying nothing but breathing oh-so-slightly visibly, audibly — a human prompt. Dad soon joined us, positioning himself as an appropriate metaphor about family always having each other’s back. Dexter, never one to be left out of a group hug, hopped up on the bed, too, tail wagging and adding in his special kind of soothing influence.

A few moments later, Tween Brother came in, shattering our efforts to calm Teen Girl with his obnoxious iPod, which we all heard coming up the stairs. I started to shush and shoo him.  Couldn’t he see we were in the Middle of Something and weren’t in the mood for blaring Bruno Mars?

Luckily I’m not super slow (only slightly slow), and in a flash it clicked that his iPod selection wasn’t random, and his presence with his iPod was anything but careless. Rather, it was full of care. Tween Brother joined our family pile and began singing to his sister in his endearing, off-key voice.

♪, ♫   Cause you’re amazing…just the way you are   ♪, ♫

Dad and I joined in the chorus, the three of us serenading Teen Girl with gusto if not with mad vocal skillz:

♪  When we see your face  
   There’s not a thing that we would change  
   Cause you’re amazing  
   Just the way you are  

Even our Teen Girl couldn’t stay moody through all that.

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This post is a part of #Microblog Mondays. Whazzat? A post that is between 1 word to 8 sentences long. Head over to Stirrup Queens to join the fun.

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Don’t forget to sign up for the Finding Zoe virtual book club. Can’t beat a good book and great discussion about it.

Image: “Mike” Michael L. Baird [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

29 Responses

  1. What a sensitive brother! I never had one of those moments with my mother or any family member for that matter. And if somebody asked me what I needed back then, it would have been that sense of closeness you share as a family.

  2. That was the most musical and wonderful glimpse into “family” I’ve ever read. I love thinking of all of you surrounding her in love, acceptance and music as she navigates the teen stuff. XO

  3. Oh man my eyes are leaking. This is so sweet and so real life. We have moments like these quite often and they can be really tough to capture. You’ve done so beautifully here. SO glad I had the chance to read this today. 🙂

  4. I burst into tears reading this. (I may or may not be a tad hormonal today.) What a sweet moment that starts with perfect quietness and erupts into such love.

  5. That is so awesome. Way to go brother. Sometimes there is just something about a brother that can ease it the way a parent can’t. It’s like they speak each others tween language.

  6. Love this! I can totally relate!

    It seems my girls have barley spoken to me in the past week- being such a “tweens”.

    I got hugs this morning and almost cried. Not sure I am ready for all this.

  7. I love this.
    And the comment gods just told me that the first line was too short and to “try to say something usefull”.

  8. Love that kid. (Um, and I was just told to lengthen my comment to say “something useful” because those 3 words weren’t enough.) I think they say it all. 🙂

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