Lifetouch School Portraits

My daughter brought home her school pictures today. They looked great--so much better than mine did at her age. I definitely went through an "awkward, gawky stage" during middle school. My daughter seems to be skipping that stage, thankfully. I know I am biased, being her mother and all, but she went from a beautiful baby to an adorable little girl to a gorgeous teenager--she really didn't ever hit a stage where she felt unattractive and wanted to change her appearance. Adolescence and puberty was not as kind to me--I went through some tough stages on my way to becoming a confident teenager. I felt very unattractive for a while, and boys really didn't notice me during middle school. As a mother, I know this is NOT the correct standard of measurement--but as a young adolescent girl, it is of UTMOST importance to be attractive to boys. I experienced some rejection from boys when I was in my awkward phase, but those same boys were flirting with me and asking me out when I completed my transformation as I entered high school. My daughter has always caught the eye of many boys--and THAT can become a problem, too. While I had a gradual introduction into the world of dating--one-sided crushes slowly morphed into mutual attraction and dates--my daughter is rushing into the world of flirting and dating as fast as she can. To clarify--she has NOT been given permission to date and will NOT be allowed to go off alone with a boy anytime soon--but she is BEGGING for opportunities to have a boyfriend, talk to boys on the phone, etc. At school, there is a boy that she really likes, and he seems to really like her, too. BUT--I'm not sure how much freedom we should give her about issues such as : talking to him on the phone, writing notes/letters/emails to him, going to school dances with him, etc. SIGH! I guess this is truly the beginning of this whole stage: falling in love/"going steady"/going on real dates/breaking up/dealing with heartbreak/AND THE WHOLE ISSUE ABOUT KISSING/TOUCHING/AND MORE!!! OMG--this is NOT what I thought about when my baby girl was born!! These issues are NOT fun to deal with at all!! For now, it all still seems innocent and harmless--my daughter is "boy crazy" and notices "cute boys" everywhere she goes, she tries to look as attractive as possible so boys will notice her (they do!), she has crushes on boys and REALLY likes some of them, and she notices teenage couples everywhere (holding hands and cuddling) and says that she wishes that she had a boyfriend--but, as her mother, I am hoping that she will slow down and just enjoy her youth and innocence. I try to encourage her to stop worrying about boys and concentrate more on spending time with her GIRL friends--problem is, when they get together, it seems that all they talk about is--you guessed it!--BOYS!! I think the girls traded school pictures with the boys, so now they all have pictures of who they think is "cute" or "hot." Some even wrote their phone numbers on the back of the pictures!! We haven't had any calls YET--but I think it won't be long before this stage begins. I better hang on because I know that I am about to embark on a very bumpy ride! I just hope my daughter has a safe journey through this stage!