Beautiful Girl
October 14, 2008
I remember being a kid and sitting on the counter in my kitchen. For whatever reason it was always the best place to hang out and have a snack. Or to have phone conversations, because of course back then the telephone was attached to the wall by a long curly cord that I would wrap around my finger over and over again.
Now my daughter has discovered sitting on the counter. She climbs up there to talk to me while I am cooking. She tells me stories about princesses in her animated way. And tells me about all the shoes she wants to buy. She is my daughter.
She asks me questions about when I was a little girl. And I see the same look on her face that I used to have when my mother would talk about her childhood. It seemed so long ago. The photos were all so old looking pasted with black corners onto yellowing scrapbook pages. Friends that she had, that she no longer talked to. “But where are all those people now?” I wanted to know.
I see on my daughter’s face the same sort of disbelief that I could have ever been anything other than a grown-up. Anything other than what I am at this exact moment. A disbelief that the world itself could have existed without her in it.
A disbelief I share most days.
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What beautiful pictures and an awesome full circle moment in your life. Love the wrap up.
She is beautiful.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:29 pmYour new kitchen is GORGEOUS.
And I am still all about sitting on the counters (except in my own kitchen which has approximately two square inches of counter space and my bottom is bigger than two square inches).
October 14th, 2008 at 1:56 pmSome day you will be standing in HER kitchen and watching her make something she watched you make in your kitchen when she sat on the countertop and shared stories with you. Enjoy your time with that beautiful little girl!
October 14th, 2008 at 1:59 pmGorgeous… and a touching post!
October 14th, 2008 at 2:13 pmThat is beautifully written; thanks.
Beth (mommy to a busy 5-year old)
October 14th, 2008 at 2:14 pmAwww….that is so sweet, Chris. Both the pics and the thoughts of the kitchen counters (which I totally relate to!) and mom-daughter bonding going along with it. It is really something when they start to make sense of our worlds, huh?
October 14th, 2008 at 2:24 pmSeeing that I’m about to turn 45 and my daughter’s not even 4 yet, she’ll be utterly horrified by how long ago MY youth was.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:25 pmMy 3 girls share the same disbelief — “you used to do what?” “How many bad guys did you put in jail?” It’s odd to them that I’ve ever done anything other than their laundry.
Thanks for the reminder to let them sit on the counters every once and a while.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:29 pmNow I feel bummed that she and all the other little girls will be robbed of the opportunity to wrap the phone cord around their fingers around and around.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:29 pmI was a teenaged counter-sitter, and my two girls have both picked it up. I think as a kid part of the fun is being higher up and looking down at Mom instead of the other way around.
BTW, I absolutely love the way the kitchen came out. It’s gorgeous!
October 14th, 2008 at 2:53 pmAwww, how cute. I did the same thing as a kid. I still sit on counters, especially when I go to my parents’ and my mom is doing something in the kitchen.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:57 pmBeautiful daughter, and a beautiful (inside and out) mom!
A disbelief that the world itself could have existed without her in it. To me - that says you are raising her right, she should think the world could not have possibly existed without her, how could it have!?
I sometimes dare (still) to think the same way - but struggled over the years with that because of self esteem issues (many unfortunately developed because of how my parents raised us - with a harshness, that they likely now regret.)
Lovely, touching post!
October 14th, 2008 at 3:03 pmOh those kitchen conversations are so important, aren’t they?
October 14th, 2008 at 3:26 pmI have the same counter top memories with my mom! Thanks for reminding me, but thanks mostly for shedding a great, realistic, entertaining light on being a mom!
October 14th, 2008 at 3:28 pmI used to do the same thing with my Mom when I was little girl.
She is beautiful…love her dress!
October 14th, 2008 at 3:47 pmSo sweet - those last two sentences - so true!
October 14th, 2008 at 4:20 pmSpiffing. Now I feel guilty for yelling at my kids for sitting on the kitchen counter.
My son was looking at a book about ancient Rome last night when he paused and looked at me and said “Mama, you know back in the time when you were living….” ????????
October 14th, 2008 at 4:25 pmur kitchen is sexy…im jealous. of course, i dont really cook…so what would i do with all that kitchen anyway….?? but it’s really nice.
and ur daughter is gorgeous…with a really cute dress
October 14th, 2008 at 4:26 pmYes - I remember doing exactly the same thing with my mother, although her kitchen wasn’t much bigger than a shoebox.
I think it’s one of those things that brings mothers and daughters together - all those happy hours of just hanging out in the kitchen chatting and enjoying each others company.
Gorgeous photo by the way - she’ll break many hearts when she’s older!
October 14th, 2008 at 4:41 pmShe is amazing. What a doll.
And I share the disbelief as well. How could I have existed before my kids. It is like a dream.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:08 pmi love your new kitchen! It’s beautiful! I have kitchen envy
my mom never let me sit on the counters, and I have all boys, they don’t so much sit as they climb on the counters.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:36 pmShe is beautiful. And I used to sit on the counter, too. Sometimes still do!
October 14th, 2008 at 5:44 pmYour daughter is a beautiful girl. And so begins wonderful memories of kitchen talks with your little girl. How fun it will be through the years, as you and your daughter grow closer through time spent together.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:59 pmMy daughter got to buy a phone and she picked a red phone with the curly cord. How that brought memories of bringing the phone into my room so I could have private conversations (we never had the nailed to the wall phone). And then she went and did the same thing. It’s amazing how they “follow” use unknowingly. One of the joys of life.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:53 pmWhat a lovely post, and what a beautiful daughter you have.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:34 pmI loved loved loved sitting on the counter talking to my mom. I still sit on her counter sometimes and talk to her.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:38 pmThe kitchen counter is still the best place to sit and have a conversation. Only now it’s with friends not my mom, at least until my daughter gets old enough to hike herself onto the counter. She getting close.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:07 pmOMG I am the shallowest person ever…
what color is that tile backsplash? is it irridescent (sp?)
I LOVE IT AND NEED TO KNOW!!!
sorry…
Chris says: No, it is tans and browns and greyish tans
October 16th, 2008 at 9:45 pmDitto on the beautiful kitchen/gorgeous daughter comments.
Is that a rack over your stove that folds down when you need it? Or a cookbook rack? Either way it’s awesome!
October 19th, 2008 at 12:20 pm