In these past few weeks I’ve caught glimpses of our little baby girl becoming a little big girl. It just seems like she’s growing up so quickly now and while I’m excited and anxious to see the person she’s going to become I’m also so sad and scared.
Part of my fear is that I wonder if I’m teaching her the right things. I’ve been trying to explain the Golden Rule to her because it’s what I’ve always tried to live by but now I’m worried I’m teaching her to be a push over and I’m afraid it will hurt her in the long run. She’s not even 4 yet and I can already tell she’s going to be a kindhearted and sensitive person – I just need to make sure she has the tough side too so she’ll be able to handle all the a-holes out there.
The other reason why I’m afraid is because I hope I can be a good parent to a pre-teen and teen. I know all of our parents had to go through it with us but when I think about how annoying some pre-teens/teens can be (I know I was!) I get a huge headache. I can’t even imagine how much I drove my mom crazy when I obsessed about the New Kids on the Block. I mean I was a FREAK about NKOTB and some days it was all I could talk about with anyone. It seems only fair that my daughter will do that to me – I just hope it’s a group that I like too!
Just so you understand how much she’s growing up I want to share a few things she can do now – it’s not to brag and say “look how smart my kid is” because frankly I’ve never raised a kid before so I don’t know if this is smart or just normal – I just wanted to let you know the kinds of “grown-up” things she’s doing now.
- She knows the words to music that Andrew and I listen to.
- She can read entire books based off of memorization even if you’ve only read it to her a few times. She even can pick out the picture in the book that matches the one on the cover.
- She can write her name and other letters of the alphabet.
- She says please without being coached (I started crying the other day when she said it to me without me asking for her to say it!)
- She makes her princesses and princes kiss!
- She’s getting to be a super sweet big sister. She helps me with Nate in a lot of ways like picking up his bottle for him when he drops it or by screaming his name to get him to stop fussing for a second (it startles him just enough to get him to realize he’s being unreasonable). Granted there are the times she pushes him or tries to sit on him but for the most part she’s been so loving and caring – even telling me when he’s doing something he’s not supposed to do. Tonight she even cuddled him as they watched television and then told me to “take a picture momma.”
- She goes potty all by herself – but tonight she didn’t quite make it there in time and instead of screaming for us to come help her in the bathroom she took care of it herself. She came out of the bathroom and told us with hand motions, “I went on the toilet seat and the floor but it’s ok because I cleaned it up – I got some paper and put it in the water and then wiped up the floor and the seat.” Me – “You used toilet water?” Her – “Uh-huh but it’s ok because it’s all clean now.”
Loving Brother
At least that last one proves we still have some time with our baby girl Nia – even if it means I have a mess to clean.
Are You Zhazha? 
Although it's fun to see them grow, it sure breaks your heart when you realize how "big" they are getting and how time is flying. And it sure does. Ike and I freak when we realize that in 7 more years, we will have a child in college. Yes, C-O-L-L-E-G-E. How weird is that?