Ode to My First Born Daughter

I am totally in love with my number 2 child - just the way a mother should be.

Oh don't get me wrong, we clash sometimes. We argue. We get angry at each other and I don't hesitate to call her out when she is being disrespectful, grumpy, irritating...any of those lovely things, BUT....

She is a breath of fresh air. Her smile lights up a room and my heart. She is silly and tender, but she also doesn't take any crap. In fact, I love that she calls BS out because I didn't learn that until much later in my life. She doesn't hold grudges. In fact, I cannot remember a time that she stayed angry with anyone for more than an hour or two at best. Many times, she will laugh before the argument is even over. In this respect, she is like her aunt and father. Neither of them are wired for grudges either.

Her God given talent is in dance - more focused on the choreography. She is amazing. And yes, I'm her mom and am very biased, but she has been told that by dance teachers as well. It is a joy to watch her in a dance that she has choreographed by herself. It is even more fun to watch her teach her 3yo baby sister a dance and have them perform for us. While I may complain sometimes, I love watching her take my iPod dock out of the kitchen and into the living room to see her dance her heart out. She is focused on where she wants to go and what she wants to do. I applaud her for doing what she needs to and for sticking it out through long days. I hope we can help her get to where she wants & needs to go.

She is not moody or boy crazy which is probably two of the things that I would hate the most. Oh sure, she gets moody, but it doesn't last long and it is usually the product of being over tired from her very busy school/dance schedule. And as far as boys, she hasn't gotten caught up the way other girls have. She likes a certain someone now, however, he is 18 and her father has forbidden any type of romantic links because she is not yet 16. They see each other at dance class, he's been to our home and for the most part it seems very respectful. For now, I think they are both ok with just being friends. I love the fact that she gets so excited and talkative when he says something nice to her and the fact that she runs in to share with me.

She also knows what hard work is. Oh believe me, she is a couch potato many, many times and there are days where she sits on the couch with the remote and only moves to go to the pantry, but if she has been given a job, she does it without complaining and gets it done. She often will help clean up around the house without me asking and I think she is actually looking forward to working with her Dad doing landscaping/fence work this summer to help pay for the extensive dance classes she takes.

I remind myself that for right now, I'm still her parent first and foremost, but I know there will come a day that we can just be friends and that makes my heart so joyful. She really is amazing and I thank God every day for blessing me with such an awesome daughter.