I love my daughter. That seems like an obvious statement, but here’s one that might not be: I like her, too! Right now, she’s twelve, but really, she’s an adult in the body of a 12 year old. I say that in a good way. If I am Wonder Woman, she is Supergirl!

A week or so ago, Supergirl decided she wanted to go to the middle school dance. She mentioned this in conversation around the dinner table on a Friday night.

“Sure,” I said. “When is it?”

“In an hour,” she replied.

A little while later, she’d thrown on her favorite pair of sweats and hoodie, and I drove her to the school. As we approached there were several young girls milling by the door. One young woman stood out to me, mostly because I was stunned by the length of the dress she wore, or rather, the lack of length of the dress she wore. It barely covered things that needed to be covered and was skin tight. I turned to Supergirl and said, “I know this girl is a sweetheart. I’ve had interactions with her, but if I ever caught you wearing something like that, you’d never leave my house.”

She replied by giving me the look. You see, Supergirl is modest. We have a rule in our house that if you wear leggings, your shirt must cover your butt. She’s always the one that asks, “Is this too short, Mom?” Now, Supergirl has the figure that could pull off leggings without being inappropriate, but she’s aware of our rules and of her own comfort.

“You know I’d never wear anything like that,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I know. Look, I know I tease you every once in a while because you don’t like to wear dresses, but you need to know how grateful I am that you are modest. I never have to worry about what you wear being inappropriate. Many moms don’t have it as good as I do with you. I appreciate that you are the way you are.”

The dance when on, and a few hours later I picked her up. Now, it’s important to note that at the middle school dances at our school, they keep the gym open for basketball or soccer for those who don’t like to dance. This applies to Supergirl. She goes to the dances to play soccer with her friends.

“How was the dance?” I asked when she got in the car.

“Great!”

“Tell me about it.”

She went on to explain how she’d played soccer in the gym with her friends and the soccer coach was there, so it was even more fun. Then she said, “They shut down the gym a few minutes before the dance ended, so we had to go back into the dance. UGH. Mom, there were like 6 girls all crying.”

“Why? What happened?”

“They were crying because some boys wouldn’t dance with them! Can you believe that? Who would cry over that? And then others were all mad at each other because…ugh…DRAMA.”

I laughed.

I say this all to not only note the wisdom of my twelve-year-old, but to remind myself of what’s important: Being who I am without any flack from anyone else and true friends who don’t get caught up in or cause…ugh…drama! Somehow, Supergirl knows she doesn’t have to wear short, tight dresses to get attention. She can be herself and be not only loved but respected by the people around her. And if they cause drama, they’re probably not the people she wants as her close friends anyway. And maybe, if she keeps on as she is now, she’ll even be able to pass that nugget of wisdom on to some of the others in her class.

So remember, be confident in who YOU are and surround yourself with people who love you for you. Do that and you too can be SUPERGIRL!