Sydney is 6. SIX. That means it's been roughly six years since I've added anything to this blog. Because that is how much LIFE Sydney takes. SIX YEARS WORTH. I know that I may sound dramatic, and to those of you who agree, I will bet you $14,000 that you have never met Sydney.
Tonight, during our bedtime routine, she asked to brush her teeth in my bathroom. As a clean-tooth fanatic, we have toothbrushes in practically every bathroom in this house. I agreed, and as I stood there watching her watch herself in my mirror, the mirror that I critique myself in each day (well, each day that I pay attention and actually put on makeup, so let's be generous and say every-other day), I was truly struck by the fact that I had created a woman. Albeit a tiny one, but a budding woman-child who is so excited to greet (and conquer) the world and has not yet been defeated by anything, especially an older brother.
I tried really hard not to tear up.
OK, I tried really hard to not show that I was tearing up.
She spotted it immediately.
"What is wrong with you?" she asked, toothbrush half-out of her mouth and a string of toothpastey-drool hanging down.
"Me?!" I asked, as I feigned having something in my eye.
She looked at me skeptically as she continued her messy dental cleanup.
I took a deep breath and braved her new world.
**ASIDE: You see, she's SIX. And not just SIX, but a really brilliant SIX. She remembers EVERYTHING. She's already reading at a 3rd grade level and she is only halfway through Kindergarten. She is savvy. She is saucey. She GETS it. I know that the things that are already happening to her and the things that I tell her will live with her always, and shape the person she grows into being. DUDES. This is a huge responsibility. I'm pretty sure I did not sign any paperwork on this when conception occurred.
"You're weird," she reported, accurately.
"I know. But that's OK. We all have our own version of normal, and there will always be people that disagree with that."
"Don't I know it!" she exclaimed, Dolly Parton-style, and completely honestly, as she rinsed her toothbrush and put it in the mug.
**ANOTHER ASIDE: If there has ever been anyone in this world that can render me speechless, I'm pretty sure that she's the only one.
She turned to leave the bathroom, but looked back at me to see if I was coming.
"Are you just going to stand there looking gorgeous?" she asked.
"No baby, I'll take a break from that and follow you anywhere." I replied.
Please, please World, do not do anything to change this inexplicably precocious and wise woman-child that has wonderfully fallen into my mama-lap. I cannot live without her.
Tonight, during our bedtime routine, she asked to brush her teeth in my bathroom. As a clean-tooth fanatic, we have toothbrushes in practically every bathroom in this house. I agreed, and as I stood there watching her watch herself in my mirror, the mirror that I critique myself in each day (well, each day that I pay attention and actually put on makeup, so let's be generous and say every-other day), I was truly struck by the fact that I had created a woman. Albeit a tiny one, but a budding woman-child who is so excited to greet (and conquer) the world and has not yet been defeated by anything, especially an older brother.
I tried really hard not to tear up.
OK, I tried really hard to not show that I was tearing up.
She spotted it immediately.
"What is wrong with you?" she asked, toothbrush half-out of her mouth and a string of toothpastey-drool hanging down.
"Me?!" I asked, as I feigned having something in my eye.
She looked at me skeptically as she continued her messy dental cleanup.
I took a deep breath and braved her new world.
**ASIDE: You see, she's SIX. And not just SIX, but a really brilliant SIX. She remembers EVERYTHING. She's already reading at a 3rd grade level and she is only halfway through Kindergarten. She is savvy. She is saucey. She GETS it. I know that the things that are already happening to her and the things that I tell her will live with her always, and shape the person she grows into being. DUDES. This is a huge responsibility. I'm pretty sure I did not sign any paperwork on this when conception occurred.
"You're weird," she reported, accurately.
"I know. But that's OK. We all have our own version of normal, and there will always be people that disagree with that."
"Don't I know it!" she exclaimed, Dolly Parton-style, and completely honestly, as she rinsed her toothbrush and put it in the mug.
**ANOTHER ASIDE: If there has ever been anyone in this world that can render me speechless, I'm pretty sure that she's the only one.
She turned to leave the bathroom, but looked back at me to see if I was coming.
"Are you just going to stand there looking gorgeous?" she asked.
"No baby, I'll take a break from that and follow you anywhere." I replied.
Please, please World, do not do anything to change this inexplicably precocious and wise woman-child that has wonderfully fallen into my mama-lap. I cannot live without her.
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