To My Daughter on Your Third Birthday

Three years! What a fine young lady you are turning into!

Oh, my pokey, daydreaming princess. Time holds no consequences for you right now. You can get distracted for an hour on your way to the refrigerator for a snack. It takes us at least ten minutes to walk from the car, through the parking lot, into the grocery store. Everything fascinates you (or at least captures your attention).

You are an amazing helper. There is almost nothing I can do that you are not tugging at my pant leg begging to "help". You want to learn everything. There is no book you don't have some interest in. (Case in point, right now you are sitting on the kitchen floor reading a cookbook.)

You are so smart. That is the understatement of the year. Your critical thinking skills are developing at a frightening rate. You apply almost everything you learn to multiple scenarios; and more often than not, you do so appropriately. Although you will outsmart us in less than a year, your father and I couldn't be more proud.

You are learning to control your anger. You try very hard to take a deep breath and/or leave the room when you are upset. We're still working on that one.

You are the queen of saying the darnedest things. Most of my facebook friends are only such because of you. Your perspective on the world and the intensity with which you see it and share it far exceeds normal kid antics.

Somewhere between the uncontrollable laughter and the screaming tears lies this perfect moment that we share many times a day. You feel everything so intently. Jokes and games and funnier to you. Insults and injuries hurt you more. When you love, you really love. When you fear, you really fear.

Even though I try not to, I find myself gazing into your future life, and knowing how hard it is going to be. Knowing at times the pain will seem unbearable. But also knowing you will find such joy as most of us never know. You will experience love closer to God than most of us ever feel. You will see beauty in people that most of us fail to notice.

I pray I am able to help you gather the tools you will need to survive the pain and thrive with the love. I pray you will find an insurance that will cover the cost of the therapy required from having been raised by your father and myself. Most of all, I pray I never take for granted even a single moment that God has allowed me to share with the most beautiful person I have ever known.

Slacker Mom

Every time one of my children reach a development milestone I find myself completely overwhelmed and the blogging stops until I've completed my adjustment period. Sam is smarter than me and Caius is almost walking and David is gone for two weeks. This is NOT the blog that gets it all going again. But in the meantime, they are just as sweet and precious as ever. Please excuse me while I go untangle his fist from her hair.