This is When I Embarrass Not Only My Daughter, But Myself

Lia Marie Przybyla: High school graduate; Harry Potter geek; self-taught piano maestro and composer; comedienne; Wicked freak; experienced theater and backstage crew member; wedgie victim

This is a bittersweet week for me, and probably bittersweet as well for the subject of my blog post. I've been accused many times of playing favorites, but I insist, as any mother would, that I have no favorites and love all my children equally. True, some of them are easier to like at times, and each of them has different qualities, strengths, and quirks that I admire and value.

My oldest, Lia, just turned 18 and is about to graduate from high school. She's by far the easiest out of all my children, which may be where the "favorite" accusation started. We share many of the same tastes in music, books, television shows, movies, and food. We both have offbeat senses of humor that sometimes get us strange looks in public. Most mundane errands, when I take her along, turn into adventures that have us rolling around laughing by the time we get home.

While growing up, Lia never got in trouble--not once. Well, unless you count the time she got caught forging her parents' signatures on a permission slip that she'd forgotten to have us sign, in the 4th grade or something... There was also the time she came home from school covered in blood. She told us she was walking home backwards, then turned around and hit her face on a wrought-iron fence. We later found out that was a lie; she'd actually tried walking home with her eyes closed! Why she thought she was going to get in trouble for that, I'll never know. What it really got her was twice the teasing for it, once I found out the truth!

I started writing my first book when she was 14. A few months ago, after a disappointing round of agent rejections, I asked her to read through the manuscript--which she did without complaint, even though she'd read the story once before, or heard various drafts read out loud. When I got it back, she'd marked all over it with corrections, suggestions, and constructive criticism beyond what I'd expected. She'd unwittingly secured herself as my first editor for any future works!

Lia holds herself up to high moral and ethical standards. Through the years I've watched her stick up for classmates who were bullied and cheer up a sad friend. She's never let peer pressure affect her, or criticism because of her religious and personal beliefs get her down. I wish I'd been half the teenager she is. She's not only an example to her younger siblings, but an example to me as well. I've learned so much from her.

I'm afraid I've rather selfishly convinced her to remain home for a while longer to get her core classes completed at the community college. She may be ready to be an adult, but I'm not ready to let her go just yet. I know I haven't been the best mother I could have possibly been over the years; I'm sure I've disappointed her and let her down, as well as my other kids, more than once. But I do hope she knows just how much I love her and how very privileged we've all been to have her in our family. Congratulations, Lia. I know I'm going to bawl my face off during the graduation ceremony.

Now enough of this mushiness! I'm totally going to give her a wedgie later on today.