I find myself getting nervous when I remember that I'm having a little girl. I keep thinking about clothes, raising her 'right', what on earth I'm going to do when the teenage years start to approach... I never thought I'd have a girl these past five years I've been raising Ian, so now I'm kind of dumbstruck.

I remember the turmoil of growing up very well. I know the things I did and I wonder every day how I managed to get this far in life without killing myself (no exaggerations on that, either). I think back to how mean the girls were to each other while growing up, how fast things changed socially, how broken my heart got year after year while dating... And look at what girls are doing to each other now! Ganging up on one and beating the crap out of her, having sex at 12 years old, being violent and nasty... Not to mention the fact that clothes and labels are so important to girl's and where they 'stand' socially!

I am terrified.

How am I going to keep it together in today's world? I know part of growing up means getting your feelings hurt and learning how to resolve conflict, but I can't even deal with it when some child takes the swing away from Ian on the playground! How on earth am I going to deal with all the girl drama? Even my niece, at 6 years old, lives a wild life with the ins and outs of social strife.

I think I am going to definitely need medication for the next 18 years.