Rebecca turned 8 last Friday. I didn't write about it right away because around here we tend to celebrate birthdays for a few days rather than just the big day. Pouch mail arrived today and she received her birthday card from Jeff. She knew it would silly, but did not find "Tu as une queue! C'est vrai!" to be nearly as humorous. (translation: You have a tail! It's true!) It's a long standing joke between Rebecca and Mr. Jeff.
Thursday we spent the evening making mini lemon cupcakes with chocolate chips, covered in vanilla icing. At school, the middle school teacher stopped me and said Rebecca is a remarkable girl. Earlier when he'd asked her what kind of cake she was bringing, she replied she didn't know yet, she had to ask her friends what they'd like, because she knew not all of them liked chocolate. He said "I don't know many other kids with that sort of answer."
Rebecca has grown up so much, even in just the past 3 months, I don't know where to start. OK, I'll start with her relationship with her sister. One evening Ian came home and whispered in my ear "Did the girls fight today?" I replied "Not at home, I don't know how they were at school, but nothing I've seen." He said "This is weird."
And that's how it's been for the past few weeks. It's like she's consciously realizing that Eight is a big deal. Her birthday was so packed with anticipation, fun (I brought water balloons for in the schoolyard, and afterwards her girlsfriends, sister and I played hot potato, Tarzan the jungle man and red light/green light), attention (the entire school knew of her birthday) and gifts, she became totally overwhelmed with making the slightest decision, weeping on daddy's shoulder about all the responsibilities she's not ready for.
But on the flipside, she no longer begs me to help every step of the way with her homework. She has confidence in her reading and generally more confident in herself. She takes pride in her belongings and her appearance. She's a leader in her classroom and, while she has her difficult moments, she's becoming a peacemaker at home. What? you say. Can this be? Well, she's a stickler for rules and the more they are held up at home, the more pleasant she is in general. She's maturing largely in part to her teacher at school, who allows her to take the lead when it's fitting. I do worry a bit about next year when she becomes "low man on the totem pole" in a classroom, but for this year, she's really proving herself and she shines.
She's smart, she's funny, she's beautiful, and she's ours.
I can honestly say, I'm so proud to have her as my daughter.
No comments:
Post a Comment