Thursday Night Thoughts

My daughter is a girl, not a woman.

She’s 7 not 17

Not 23 or 40.

She has bangs and Barbies

Ice cream earrings and

Rubber band bracelets.

She sleeps with a koala bear

named Kaylee.

My daughter is a girl, not a woman.

She belongs in sneakers and slippers

Not high heels that make her

Wobbly and uncertain

About her next step.

My daughter is a girl, not a woman.

She needs to run and play

To lie in the grass

and find pictures in clouds. 

She needs to feel the sun on her face,

Without worrying about what it will

do to her skin.

My daughter is a girl, not a woman.

She should have dirt stains on her cheeks,

Her pockets full of discoveries from her day.

She shouldn’t be obsessing about what she’s wearing

Where she’s going

Or who will or won’t be beside her.

She’s not ready for diamonds

Or pearls

Or phrases to make her “grow up”

She’s not sexy.

She’s seven.

My daughter is a girl.
Not a woman.

Please don’t teach her that

She needs to be older than she is,

More jaded than she should be.

Because neither of us are ready.