Alarming!

My oldest daughter is growing up.  She is almost eye to eye with me and  today I told her I thought she had gotten even taller and prettier while she was at school.  We are heading straight for the teenage years at what seems like lightening speed and Bill and I comment often how we wish we could stop the clock even just for a while.

Tonight she called my cell phone and asked if she could make a corn dog.  Proud of her initiative at finding something to eat besides a fruit snack, I said sure.  A few minutes later she called back.  “Mom, the corn dogs rolled off the pan when I put them in.”  I started to walk her through putting on a oven mitt and retrieving them when she announced that she had already done that.  I guess she just wanted me to know.  I wished her well and hung up.

About a minute later she called again.  WHAT?!!  I was starting to get annoyed by the repeated calls.  Before I could get out hello….I heard it.  The fire alarm was going off.  (like mother, like daughter!)  She then asked hesitantly, “Uhm, mom… what do I do now?”

I told her to get out some paper and start fanning it in the direction of the alarm.  Sounding a little impressed at my fire safety skills she said “o.k.” and got to fanning the smoke away.

Not all the questions she is going to ask in her teenage years are going to be as easy as how to turn off a smoke alarm, but I hope and pray she’ll continue to ask me.

I’ll keep my cell phone charged.