"I hate you"

It finally happened. Olivia said the words “I hate you”. She’s been testing the waters lately with “I don’t like you”. I knew it was going to happen soon. She said it in response to Jody being “mean”. Life is so hard at her age. She wants to be babied one minute and is on her way to adolescence the next. Jody and I had to keep ourselves from laughing when she said it. She went down the stairs and fussed and whined for a few minutes. After her drama episode was over I told her that those weren’t nice words and they hurt Daddy’s heart. I don’t expect it will be the last time we hear them though. There is a touch of sadness in all of this. Slowly Olivia is losing her innocence. And I know I will struggle with this as she gets older and more mature. Watching my baby girl grow up is so bittersweet. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.