She is still my baby

I love that Beautiful B is growing up, I don't even mind that when I realise she is 17 that means I am getting old because lets face it, I feel and act even more like I am all of 18 myself most of the time.  Plus, there is the tiny fact that she does me proud each and every moment.  Anyhoo....

Yesterdays text went:

"OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!!!! Just worked out what to do for your birthday and it SOOOO tops last year." 

Now, park for the moment how much of an excitable child she sounds like in that text and lets reflect on her insistence of spending a fortune last year for my birthday.  That was Beautiful B's first year with a "proper" job at McDs and obviously she spent her whole summer there working her little socks off to get promoted for being so good at what she does and obviously, to her, she earned herself quite a bit of money and she spent it all - trust me, boy did she spend!  But she also insisted on seriously treating me for my birthday - which made me kind of tearful for two reasons: the first is obvious but the second was because she is so much like me it is scary because I did the same thing with my mum.  With my first wage I went out and bought her a beautiful gold bracelet (we will ignore the fact that she didn't wear bracelets, it is the thought that counts after all.....) to show her how much I loved her.

So....last year I was treated to a trip to Alton Towers (UK's much smaller version of Universals theme park - the one with the scary rides in) of which she insisted on paying for the tickets and the petrol to get there (of course I had to drive) so I refused to let her pay for the lunch and drinks etc etc.  However, then she surprised me with a mother and daughter pamper session at the salon in Alton Towers hotel which was lovely and such a beautiful thought.

So could she top it this year - well, she thinks she has.  She is taking me to Manchester to see Alan Carr - Hubby would argue he isn't funny however I think he is and Beautiful B thinks he is that funny that we have to tell her to quieten down when she watches him on TV because boy is she loud.

So she insisted on paying for the tickets until she phoned Hubby to confirm if he thought I would like to go and he said he would pay for one for my birthday present, and she is insisting on paying for the train fare so I will treat her to tea out at a restaurant because that is only fair right?

So I am off for a hilarious evening out to a show and the requirement to stand up on the train all the way home because it will be so busy will be worth it.  In fact, I may just suggest, seen as my birthday falls on a weekend this year, that we go in the early morning and have a window shop around Manchester and make a whole day and evening of it.

I am uncomfortable at the cost, of course, but she won't be told because lets face it she is my daughter and although I have not consciously taught her these lessons she seems to have taken them in by osmosis.  She will give her last penny to her family and friends and so somehow I taught her to do something right and so I will repay her in little ways that aren't entirely obvious to her until she thinks about them.....