Today, my daughter and her cheer squad leave for American Cheer Power All-Star Small gym National Championship. I am not able to leave as early as we had hoped, so when one of the other team moms offered to have Brooke ride with them and get into San Antonio earlier, she jumped at the chance.
I met them this morning at a gas station where much of the team had gathered to drive south together. The girls ran from one car (ok, SUV) to another giggling and grinning. They were adorable. Hair in messy ponytails, sunglasses pushed on their heads, even though it was cloudy. They were wearing jeans, sweaters, Abercrombie t-shirts, hoodies, capris, and track suits. And they were so fresh and adorable as they decorated our cars (ok, SUV’s)…
Had I written a novel of my life, I would have written this very chapter into my childhood. How I would have longed to be the girl that was up early for a road trip decorating cars in my sweats and messy bun. Buying snacks and making a bathroom run in the gas station before we all piled into a van and headed to another city. But those things weren’t in my childhood. However, I am making it happen in my daughter’s. I do not have a lot of money, but I do have time. I will give it to her, to all of them. I will sacrifice “me” time and lunches and shopping trips and give them my time. The question is, do they appreciate it? Maybe not now. Maybe my daughter doesn’t see something as mundane as cheer leading or a road trip or painted car windows as living a charmed life.
But maybe one day, she will.
