Today I was driving WonderGirl and a friend home from a swimming excursion. It was a nasty drizzly day here, not really right for a day at the pool, but her group of friends wanted to celebrate the first day of summer vacation that all of them could have together, so they decided to make a go of it.

Her group is made up of seven kids, three boys and four girls. There are no dating pairs right now, as far as I can tell. This is the same group that was "studying for finals" at my house last week.

The friend is Red Head Boy. They are sitting in the back seat talking about the afternoon. I am driving him to his job, which is near our house. I'm a nice Mom on my day off!

RHB: I'm finally getting a six pack!

WG: You are not!

RHB: Well, if I suck in my gut, I can see at least one muscle. The other five will come, eventually.

WG: That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

Me: Wondergirl! That's not very nice!

WG: Mom, We've seen each other without our shirts on. We're friends. I'm not going to lie to a friend.

Meanwhile, I am having a heart attack about the way she threw off the "without our shirts on" line. While technically, swimming is a shirtless, though not topless activity, suddenly I want to make her swim only while wearing a sweatshirt until she's 25.

On the other hand, I'm admiring the easy way she is talking to this boy, who has been her friend since back in eighth grade, when she towered over him by seven inches. She's not nervous or flirty or flighty, just because he's a boy. She's confident, direct, and smart.

She's amazing.