Little Six

Last week, Little One hit a big milestone.  As my dad pointed out to us, She now needs BOTH hands, to show how old She is.

My big kid six-year-old has hit plenty of other big milestones in the last year-
Lost Her first teeth
Learned to play piano
Became an independent, avid reader
Became a good hiker
Learned to ride a bike with training wheels
Figured out addition, subtraction, and how to make change
Became a "double" big sister
Had Her first surgery and
kicked Her fever syndrome to the curb
Traveled the country
Started kindergarten

These are all good and great. I'm proud of what She has accomplished, experienced, and achieved.
But what I'm really proud of, at six years old, is the kind of kid She just is. 

Little One is a bright and sunny, meet-the-world kind of kid.  She typically greets me early each morning, dressed, bed made, ready to help make breakfast.

She's a responsible kid.  I almost never have to ask Her to make Her bed, put Her dirty clothes away, clear Her dishes, clean up after Herself.  She will say things like, "That's a great treat mom, but can I save some for after dinner?  I don't want to eat too much sugar before my veggies."  She always eats Her veggies.  She is quick to help out, quick to offer a hand, and usually asks for permission or advice if She's not sure what the rules are.

She's a brave kid. A tough kid. She is small, always the smallest in a class or team.  But if She complains about an injury or illness, it really hurts.  In class She social butterflies around, chit-chatting with the girls.  But at recess, She plays mostly with boys.  Because it just happens that there is only one other girl (Her partner in crime) who is up for roughhousing, racing, roaring, wrestling.

That's my little paradox; She's into sparkles and dresses and earrings and pretending to be a mama.  She loves princesses and ballet and purple and pink.  She's also into mud and superheroes, pirates, dinosaurs, blue, and green.  She loves to sit quietly and read for hours and hours,  write in Her journal, draw, or experiment with Her snap-circuits or optics kit.  She also loves to run like a wild creature in the yard, wrestling the dogs, growling like a lion, climbing boulders and throwing rocks.
I once had someone ask me what "kind of" kid She is; tomboy? girly-girl? athlete? bookworm?  
Yes.  She is all the things.

She does it all with flair, too. Gone are the days of getting to pick out Her outfits and do Her hair.  She dresses Herself, puts in Her own, signature, low ponytail.  And Her crazy outfits have rules.  They usually must have a sash.  It does not matter if the sash matches, if the outfit is supposed to have a sash, or if it even is a sash, rather than a torn silk scarf or random shoelace or something.  The shirts must always be tucked in.  Tucked in mom, in.  There should be tights- not leggings- and also socks.  A cardigan is a must.  Pants are a never.  What matters is that a shirt and a skirt individually are liked, not that they match.  Dresses are highly preferred.  She's very self-conscious about what Her friends will think, a new thing, but apparently they think these wild ensembles awesome. Which they are.

She does everything with flair, though.  Her bed is never just made, just the covers pulled up.  Each and every single morning, Her pillows and stuffed animals and dolls are intricately arranged in a new display.  With maybe some necklaces strung into garlands, some socks folded into flowers, some feathers adding a flourish here and there.  Where did She get feathers?  No one knows.

She finds things. And She hoards them.  Little One is allowed one special drawer, just for Her, that She can keep secret treasures in.  And that thing is jam-packed.  There is all kinds of random junk in there, which is not junk at all but cherished sacred possessions.  Especially Her journal.

Little One keeps a journal that She usually writes in after She's been tucked in.  I don't pry into it, but She occasionally shows me pages, and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.  It's mostly about the things and people She loves; how much She loves Her family, Her dogs, Her Puppy, Her friends.  It is literally rainbows and fields of flowers in there.  (And some sharks and dinosaurs.  So I guess She's balanced.)

Writing and creating are Little One's heartbeat.  She is always writing, drawing, crafting.  She loves to make things out of cardboard; houses for fairies, beds for dollies, a diorama of a Powhatan village. Today She hauled some big flattened boxes out of the recycle pile and spent 3 hours creating a castle with a working drawbridge.  Then She labeled a popsicle stick with each of our names, and built a slot we can deposit them into, like a key, so that She will know if we want Her to lower the drawbridge so we can visit.  Any time.  Any time at all.   Because She wouldn't want us to feel left out.

She doesn't want anyone to feel left out.  Or sad.  Or scared.  Or uncomfortable in any way.  There was a time Little One wished She had a super power, and I told Her She does.  She has a super-human sense of empathy.  This has made Her the care-taker of All Beings.  Real, pretend, or imagined.  It has given Her a lot of friendships at school, Her teacher tells me.  It has gotten Her sister out of a lot of chores.  One tear from Miss and Little One can't stand it- suddenly Missy's bed is made, Her blocks put away, and She's getting a story read to Her.

In fact Her love for Her siblings is something I find profoundly beautiful.  She has an infinite patience and tenderness for Little Mister.  She has an impressively large patience and camaraderie with Her sister.  And though She has given us more sass and moodiness since starting kindergarten, She is devotedly loving to Her parents, too.

At six, She's just starting to shift some of that importance over to Her peers. Starting to be too cool for things, starting to eschew "baby stuff" or "little kid stuff", now that She's all big-time kindergarten.  But I'm lucky that at six, She still thinks it's fantastic if I get to spend time in Her classroom; still likes to hold my hand on the way to school.  I'm lucky that She still thinks I'm fun to hang out with, and begs for special time "just us", and invites me to play, to draw with Her, to see everything She's working on (She's always working on something).  I'm so thankful for this, knowing how soon it may slip away.

Little One still loves music, singing, dancing.  She loves science, history, facts.  She tends to get microbursts of obsession.  Something will raise Her curiosity, and then She has an intense desire to know ALL about it.  We will get books, google articles, visit museums, until Her thirst for the subject abates and then it's on to the next.  This year She has gone through phases of interest in dinosaurs, the revolutionary war, greek mythology, geology, optics, wildfires, child labor, and Shel Silverstein poems.  I can't tell you how much I cracked up writing "internet article: history of the labor movement and child-labor practices in the 20th century" on Her school read-a-thon log.  Her teacher must think I'm a nutcase.  But the girl has a voracious love for learning, and it's one of my favorite things about Her.

But then, I have lots of those.
I love how kind She is.  I love how generous She is.  I love how open She is to new ideas, new experiences, new foods, to anything really.  She's always up for an adventure, always willing to give anything a try.  I love the way She will fail or get hurt and then get right back in the ring and try again.  I love the way She will struggle hard through something, and persist until She gets it.  I love the way She finds something beautiful and lovable in absolutely everything and everyone.  I love the way She protects Her siblings, and dotes on them.  I love the way She treasures Her grandparents.  I love how grateful She is for Her blessings in life.  I love how silly She can be, I love the musical sound of Her laughter.


Some stats:

Favorite Foods
-tunafish sandwiches
-blackberry anything
-injera
-breakfast
-Japanese food of any sort

Favorite Books
-Amelia Bedelia
-Shel Silverstein
-Non-fiction for early readers

Favorite Movies
-Frozen (of course)
-Sound of Music
-Cars

Favorite Games
-Card Games
-Pretend
-Chess
-Life
-Brain Quest workbooks


For all I've written, I could write forever.  It's a joy to be Her parent, to watch Her grow, to hear the funny things She says, to be the recipient of Her wonderful hugs.   At six, it's also a joy to have Her friendship, as She becomes more grown-up every day.

I love you my Little One.  Happy Six.