spirited girls

Everything I will love about my daughter when she is twenty is driving me crazy while she is four.

I admire women who speak their mind, stand up for what they believe in and know what they want and go after it. However, these qualities in a pint-size ball of energy and emotion are actually really trying. I would have said they are annoying as all get-out, but my daughter might read this someday.

I try to remind myself that having a spirited daughter is exactly what I want. My girl knows what she wants and she isn't afraid to say so. I'm sure her confidence, conviction and drive will serve her well in the not so distant future, but right now they seem to be resulting in a lot of time-outs. Why listen to someone tell you how to tie your shoe when you are certain you've discovered a better way to do it? Why not tell your mum she isn't as pretty as your Barbie? It is just a fact. Why not try to skip learning the alphabet and move straight to chapter books, alphabets are for babies anyway, right? For the record, being like a baby is just about the worst thing ever when you are four (except for when you feel too tired to walk, eat or go to bed. In those cases being a baby is awesome.)

Truth be told I'm actually loving the pre-school years. I am a talker and now that Violet can communicate with me we have so much fun. (She has actually been talking for eons now, but recently her vocabulary has surpassed my own.) We've just had a rough patch the past few weeks which I, like any good parent, blame entirely on external factors (my sister moved to China -- sorry for the guilt trip Lou; my parents were away for a long trip, Winter will never end and we haven't seen the sun since last  September; etc.). The problem couldn't be my daughter or I, that is impossible.

So if you see me in the next few weeks and I seem a little frazzled and my eyes start twitching when my daughter screams, NO!, please remind me that that is exactly what I will want her to be saying when she is twenty.

xo

Em