She NEEDS Me!

I walked past the schoolroom yesterday on my way to the disaster zone, AKA, Rachel, Samantha and Hannah's room, to get their dirty laundry hamper. Abby jumped up from her desk with her Critical Thinking assignment, saying, "Mom, I need you."

Now when your nearly 14 year old daughter, who in the last three days has been moody, cranky, and just all around irritable, says she needs you, it makes your heart leap for joy. I decided to have some fun with her. You know, like a cat with a mouse.

"You need me? You mean you really NEED me? Oh WOW! I have waited for the day when you realized that I am a necessary part of your universe."

At this point she froze. You could see by the look on her face she was trying to decide if I was for real.

So I continued, "For 14 long arduous years I have longed for you to come to the realization that I am more than a food delivery service, more than a laundress, more than a maid. You need ME!" I turn to Nathalie who is looking at me like I have lost my mind, "She NEEDS me!"

Abby now realizes that I am messing with her. She rolls her eyes the way in which only a teenager can, and says, "Mooooommm! I just need help with this lesson."

Oh well, someday she'll really need me, right?