Growing up, I was the youngest of three girls and we were commonly referred to as "The Girls." Sometimes it was "The Boyd Girls" by our parents' friends and at other times it was simply "GIRLS!" The latter was a favorite of our mother, who is now known as Presh. More on Presh later.

Now that I am married with girls of my own, I am calling Anne (6) and Sarah-Kate (4) The Girls. Girls, time for dinner. Girls, time for a bath. Girls, time for bed. At the instant the words come out of my mouth, I suddenly realize how much I sound like my mother. (Mirror, mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all). I would lie in bed and hear "Girls", and I would get further under the covers because what usually followed those words was something unsatisfactory to me. Although I was tired of hearing it, I loved being one of the girls. It felt special to be known as "The Boyd Girls."

I can't help but wonder what my two daughters think when they hear it. Do they also like being one of the girls? Or are they hearing, blah, blah, blah? Tonight when it was time for Anne to leave with Presh and Granddaddy because she gets to spend the night, I yelled up the stairs, "Come on girls, time for Anne to leave." There was no response. After a few minutes (and a couple more yells), I went up to investigate. I found the two of them hugging good-bye and Anne said "I was just telling Sarah-Kate good-bye because we will miss each other." Sarah-Kate had a look like she wasn't going to see Anne for quite awhile. She pouted as Anne left and it took about 10 seconds for her to cheer up because she was getting to take a bath and use the foamy soap all by herself without having to share.