american honey

so - my daughter is a bit of a music junkie. at not-quite-five - her music tastes range anywhere from john mayer, regina spektor, to lady antebellum. i always thought the voice of a child was something to hear. something special, even when off key and singing from their toes, i always thought it was beautiful. until i realized my daughter could really, actually sing. it's magical. it takes my breath away, often moving me to tears. she has a freakish knack for memorizing song lyrics just like her momma. she keeps beat and rhythm. she can point out specific instruments in a song, and she doesn't even really know how to play one yet.

now, i like to somehow take credit for this on occasion as i sang to her while i was pregnant. a LOT. yet i am not a very good singer. i was the girl always cast in the non-singing lead roles in the musicals. could not ever carry a tune. yet - i sing like it's nobody's business. i'm a rock star. in the car. and in the house when no one is home. we have music playing each and every night still, when kennedy goes to bed. it's always on in the car.

i digress. the girl can sing. as i hear her belting things out from the backseat, i often notice lyrics floating up into my mind. this one recent fav of hers is american honey, by lady antebellum. she sings of "she grew up slow, she grew up goooood, like american honey." this resonated inside me tonight in a way it hadn't yet. it made me remember, be present. enjoy each little bit. allow her to grow up slow. don't let her get big too fast. she kept telling us at dinner tonight that she knew how to behave like a lady at a restaurant, because she was a big girl. and big girls can do whatever they want. slow down. be present. grow up slow. grow up good, sweet girl.

as things are finally beginning to shift in my life, i'm realizing more and more of the little things. the slow parts. taking it all in. letting it float around and savoring it like honey. i just need to remember now, slow down. be present. happiness just comes. it's not forced anymore. i will never forget something a high school sweetheart wrote to me many, many years ago - "i am beginning to thaw."

be present. be happy. and slow it down. like american honey.