1. If I see it, it’s mine
2. If I think about it, it’s mine
3. If I like the show I want to watch it 30 times. In a row.
4. If you suggest it, I don’t want it. Until I forget you suggested it, and think it’s my idea.
5. Stolen food tastes better
6. That baby in the mirror is pretty awesome
7. Mommy and Daddy are all-powerful
8. I can wrap Mommy and Daddy around my little finger
9. If that fails, there’s Grandma
10. Everything is amazing
I love dandelions.
They are such simple, earnest, friendly, happy flowers. I understand that people tend to despise the weed, but they warm my heart. They’re like children; they may make a mess of the yard, but really they just want to make you smile.
Besides, their greens are yummy.
These bear cubs thought so too. They were making quite a nice meal of Dandelions right alongside the highway. (We were a little east of Whitehorse, YT, here.)
My goodness, you are such an adaptable little girl.
This month has been crazy with Mommy pulling all-nighters finishing up her semester at school, then every day spent at Grandma’s packing her home up for the move to Alaska (finally done with those two items. yay!). And now Daddy is pulling all-nighters to finish the requirements for his degree and grade his students’ papers, not to mention all the work he put into organizing the Conference on Near and Middle East Studies. Then once we got Grandma moved out of her home, she’s been staying with us and sharing a bedroom with you.
That’s a lot of change, and a lot of chaos for a little girl to deal with, and you have handled it beautifully. You just keep finding ways to explore and have fun in whatever new environment or situation you find yourself in.
Hold on to that adaptability. Embrace it. That sense of adventure, that ability to find joy in any situation, the ability to adapt and continue to thrive in new situations, even if they are less than ideal, is the key to happiness.
It is so easy for us to fixate on things we can’t control. But that won’t fix anything, and it just makes you miserable. Focus on the things you can control, and keep up this practice of looking for joy wherever you are. You will find it.
The next few weeks will provide you with many more opportunities to practice adaptability. We’re getting ready to hit the road in a few hours for a very long trip. We’re going to drive through Canada up to Alaska to take Grandma to go live up there. This will be your first trip to Alaska, and the return will be your first flight.
And if that were not enough, as soon as we get back to Seattle, we are moving to a new home, too.
I can’t wait to share this great adventure with you!
I love you so much
Mommy
Shortly after we were engaged, Aaron and I went to dinner with some friends. We got to talking about my family, so I pulled this picture of my dad and brothers from my wallet. Lars looked at the picture a moment, then set it down on the table while backing away a bit.
He turned to my husband and said, “Dude, whatever you do, don’t piss her off.”
So far, so good.
The first rule of getting along with other people after you become a parent is don’t brag about your child all the time. Or ever, actually. I break that rule every day. I’m one of those annoying moms – always trotting out the latest cute or amazing thing that my gorgeous little girl did. If I wasn’t your mom, I’d nauseate you. Actually, I’m sure your tweener, teen, and early adult years will be consumed by me nauseating you. It’s in the job description. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.
So here I am, a mommy blogger, discussing rules about how parents shouldn’t brag about their kids all the time. But, again, it’s in the job description. I mean, really, if your mom isn’t utterly amazed by you, over the moon about you, if your mom doesn’t brag about you… who will? I don’t want to follow this train of thought too far, because the sad truth is that some kids don’t, for whatever reason, have someone who really goes to bat for them. Part of me wonders if this is the reason for the previously mentioned rule, but I know better. This rule rests on a much more shallow foundation.
The truth is, bragging moms are annoying.
On the other hand, if there is one place on earth I should be allowed to brag about my darling daughter, it should be on my own blog, in a letter directly to her. Prepare to be annoyed.
To lighten things up a bit, I’m going to limit this letter to bragging about about the adorable things you do imperfectly.
There is nothing that makes my heart smile quite like watching you put your green Hello Kitty rain boots on the wrong feet and dancing around the living room.
You pronounce applesauce and princess exactly the same way (“sausaus”).
I didn’t think you knew any numbers above ten, but last night we were looking at a book, and when we got to page 25, you said “five-twent.” I was sure I heard that wrong, but you turned the page and then said “six-twent.”
At the store the other day we were looking at stuffed animals, and you picked up the rhinoceros and called it a triceratops. How does a 2 year old store a four syllable word about a dinosaur with horn on it’s nose, and retrieve it at the appropriate time? I don’t care if you were wrong about the rhinoceros, I’m just blown away that you were wrong in such a cool way. I could never tell the dinosaurs apart (in fact, I had to go online and look it up), but from now on, I will always remember that the triceratops has a horn like a rhinoceros. See, parents learn things from their kids all the time.
I hope this doesn’t make you feel like you’ve been made fun of. Perfect is boring. It’s also an illusion. You can spend your life chasing perfection, but when it comes down to it, when you take stock of what you really love about someone, what makes your heart swell, generally the imperfections weigh in pretty heavily. That’s not to say you shouldn’t try your best, or try to improve. It means don’t be afraid to fail; don’t be afraid to try something because you won’t be perfect the first time. It means don’t let your stumbles paralyze you. Pick yourself up, and keep dancing, even if your boots are on the wrong feet.
Imperfections make us unique, approachable, and lovable. And you, my darling daughter, are infinitely lovable.
I love you so much,
Mommy
Isak Denison once wrote that the cure for anything is salt water: tears, sweat, or the sea
Personally, I’d much rather take my cure from the sea, than sweat or tears.
We really should get out here more often.
This wasn’t Gem’s first trip to the beach; last time she was just a few months old, so it’s unlikely she has a memory of it. But she took to it like it was already her favorite place in the world. We didn’t tell her where we were going, but when she saw the water she immediately started trying to unbuckle herself, and yelling “Beach! Beach!” Either that, or she was calling me a bitch, but I don’t think she’d be quite so enthusiastic if that was the case.
My little girl definitely inherited her parent’s love of the sea.
Every day since she has asked to go back to the beach. Perhaps it’s time to go get some more cure.
