A funny thing happened on the way to the mall

I had a wonderful day with one of my all time favorite people -- my daughter. She and I browsed some boutiques for the "perfect purse" (we finally found it!) and had lunch. It wasn't hurly burly holiday shopping, just enjoyable time together.

It's hard for me to articulate how I feel about my daughter. She is the best of her parents -- her methodical, reasonable, practical side (her dad) and her big dreams and persistence (me). She is not only fun to be with around, but has a deep sensitive side that feels for others.

I remember when she was little and not yet walking. She would see her brother walking around and it seemed she was distraught that she was not walking. She would cry and moan and seem to act as if she wanted to move like he did. Before she could even sit up, we'd prop her up in a small chair -- the kind that "hooks" onto the side of a table (probably outlawed now) and she'd fight to sit up and then fight even hard to lift her "sippy cup" (the kind with the lead in the bottom) and drink out of it. If we tried to help her, she'd grunt and cry...she wanted no help.

When I see her tackle tough situations, I see this same fiery determination in her. She takes charges in basketball games by girls that outweigh her 75 pounds. She works for hours on science and math problems. She doesn't like to not "get something" on the first try and can often be demanding on herself and others.

And yet there is a tenderness, a vulnerability to her that I find hard to describe. Not gullibility but a transparency that I can only pray isn't destroyed by the knocks of high school.

She wants her own style, bucks trends for her own identity. Loves her father with blinding devotion and laughs at all my jokes (even when they are truly stupid).

She told me today that her friends often tell her that she has the "neatest mom". That's flattering to hear, but it's easy to be a fun mom when you've got a jewel for a daughter. She makes it fun. We're still in the early years of teenage-dom, but I have to stop and thank God for the relationship and the person that we have with her.