Making the decision to slow things down

Last updated: 27/04/2015 10:43 by MaryLouMcDonald to MaryLouMcDonald's Blog
Filed under: MummyBloggers
She took the news of Zayn Malik’s departure from One Direction very well.
 
She was indifferent really, which surprised me. I brought her to see One Direction (1D) in the O2 arena – her first ‘gig’ – a few short years ago. It was an unforgettable night; she and I in a vast sea of girls and their mums and aunties and grannies,  as the fever pitch and scream decibels grew. My girl drank it all in through big blue saucer-sized eyes.
 
She was overwhelmed. So was I. The screaming crowd was such that my ears rang for a full week after. Government, take note: should we ever face a threat of invasion all we need to do is deploy our young girls to scream –the ultimate deterrent.
 
Iseult – my firstborn, my girl – is 11 now, turning 12 this summer. She has acquired a vast store of 1D CDs, DVDs, posters, pens, and annuals – much of it courtesy of Santa over the years – and yet she shrugged off the news that Zayn had had enough and packed in the famous boy band.
 
“Do you not care?” I asked.
 
“Not really, Mam”
 
“Are you too big for them now?” I asked.
 
“You could say that, Mam”.
 
She did not elaborate any further. She didn’t have to. In a low key but unmistakeable way I understood that another chapter in her young life has come to a close. She is no longer a teeny bopper in thrall to a boy band.
 
I have to pinch myself sometimes and ask “Where did the time go?”  As my girl rushes headlong into adolescence, all of the milestones –first tooth, first words, first day at school, First Communion (we are Roman Catholic) –seems to have passed in accelerated time.
 
My own mother smiles her smile at me. She tells me that the accelerated time thing happens to every mum. She reminds me that I was, once upon a time, 11 going on 12 and in a hurry to know the world.
 
So, I have resolved to try and slow things down a bit, if I can. I have decided to take my time with my girl while she is still a girl.
 
It’s my mother’s birthday this month. We have a big birthday treat planned for her and I can’t wait!
 
We’ll slow things down and share our time. 
 
Sinn Fein Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald lives in Cabra, Dublin, along with her husband, Martin Lanigan, and two children, Iseult and Gearóid. 
Déanta in Éirinn - Sheology
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