Little Birdie Leaving the Nest

My 10 year old daughter will be departing the "safety of home" early next Saturday morning to go on a 5 day (and 5 NIGHT) journey with her Girl Scout troop to Savannah. (Savannah, for the uninitiated, is a sort of "mecca" for Girl Scouts; Juliette Gordon Lowe, the founder of Girl Scouts, was from Savannah.)

Today was the mandatory parent-child meeting with the scout leaders; signing of permissions slips, health forms, etc.. My daughter is ready to burst from excitement - we had barely gotten back home before she excitedly raced up to her room and began flinging outfits from her closet onto her bed (down to the accessories, Little Fashionista that she is....).

And I'm in a FUNK.

Mind you, my daughter has spent the night away from me many times, but it's usually at her BFF Rachel's house (2 streets over) or at my Mom's house. This is the first time she'll be 6 hours away from me, for 5 nights. I'm a little freaked out by it.

In this heightened emotional state, I told my husband, "Do you realize, in just EIGHT SHORT YEARS, both of our children will be grown and GONE!" (He just patted my hand and continued clicking the remote, not even missing a beat. How can men be so calm about this???)

I'm sure she'll have an absolutely wonderful time, and I'll survive, but I'll miss having her around. I'll even miss her critical eye appraising my outfit each day, looking me up and down and saying "You're not going to wear THAT today, are you, Mom?"

I love having a daughter. (And, blessedly, my 12 year old son will be home all week when she is gone; thankfully, he has NO plans for Spring Break. Whew...)