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As a mother raising a daughter in this pre-preteen stage, I don’t pick out her clothes anymore. Although sometimes her outfits are questionable from my perspective, they represent her. I try very hard not to tell her to go back to her room and change, even though I do not understand the leggings and jean shorts look. It’s her favorite at the moment, so leggings and jean shorts it is.

Every morning she gets up, brushes her teeth, puts on her deodorant (my first clue that things were changing), gets dressed and does her own hair. She does all this without being told (that’s one of the perks to raising a daughter instead of a boy, I suppose).

I feel like the bone tired days of toddlerhood are behind us now. What lies ahead in this journey of raising a daughter, makes my stomach do flips. There’s nothing we can do that will stop her from getting her heartbroken. If her friend betrays her, we can’t take that feeling away from her.

All we can hope for is that she stays true to herself. There’s no one else on this planet like her. Thank goodness for that.

If your creative child is nearing the preteen stage, try these tips for Positive Parenting Tweens.

Jessie is a Canadian girl who moved to Las Vegas 16 years ago. She has an Aussie husband, 3 kids, 2 dogs and a rabbit - there is never a time in their busy life that isn't crazy and chaotic. She is involved with local charities, and involves her kids as often as she can. They enjoy it as much as she does. Jessie has always enjoyed writing, blogging and using her mommy brain for creative things other than juice boxes, goldfish and homework.