My little girl

I was in the older girls' bedroom last night, chatting for a few minutes before kissing them goodnight, when Katie cornered me and said in a furtive whisper, " Something bad happened in school today."

I could tell that she was trying to keep Beth from hearing, so I also lowered my voice and asked her to explain.

She told me that someone in her class wrote "I want to have sex with -----" on a bathroom wall.

I stood for a moment in shock, looking at my sweet little ten year old daughter, and wondering what this world has come to. I took the moment to compose myself so that I could ascertain, as delicately as possible, how much innocence she had been robbed of that day.

I lowered my voice even more, and whispered to her, "Do you know what that means?"

Her eyes opened wide, and she said confidently, "Yes, I do."

I took another moment to compose myself. "What does it mean?" I whispered.

"It means," Katie said, her brows lowering in dissaproval, "That she defaced school property!"

I told her that she was absolutely right and then I kissed my little girl goodnight. I am glad to know that, a year ago, she decided on her own to avoid the group that the vandal runs with, because she didn't like how "shallow" (her words) they were getting.

That being said, the time for a certain talk is no longer approaching: it is here. *Sigh*