My youngest daughter is 12 (13 soon) and can be the absolute epitome of adolescent girlhood sometimes: sassy, mouthy, and trying. (Or, by turns, giggly, cute and fun. One just never knows WHICH adolescent is going to show up from moment to moment.)

The fact she refuses to take “no” for an answer from me can sometimes be really, REALLY irritating. But that characteristic is also at the core of why she’s a really hard worker and has overcome challenges that would have stopped a lot of kids–and adults–cold. So, what drives me nuts about her also inspires my admiration.

Example: yesterday, she went outside to take her daily 100 basketball shots. She wants to try out for 7th grade basketball this coming winter, and while that’s a long time away, she wants to be prepared. She’d been outside for a few minutes, when suddenly she ran inside screaming and sobbing. This is a kid who, at age 7, lost a baby tooth in the midst of a soccer game but held onto it without telling anyone so she could keep playing until halftime, at which point she presented me with the bloody tooth. So, screaming and sobbing is a big deal for her. I knew something was very, very wrong.

Turned out some dumbass yellowjacket stung my baby girl… on the eyelid and below the eye, at least twice and probably three times. Given her allergic tendency to other things, the site of the sting, and the fact her eyelid swelled nearly shut within a few minutes, I gave her an icepack and rushed her to Children’s Urgent Care.

Many icepacks and benedryls later, she’s much better. No permanent damage to the eye, although the lid and undereye area is still swollen and probably will be for days.

And guess what I hear outside my window as I write this? That’s right. Thump, thump, thump… the sound of my daughter dribbling her basketball and working on her 100 shots.