When people meet Princess, there are a few comments made that we are pretty used to hearing: 1). She is beautiful. As her parents, we obviously think she is exceptionally gorgeous, but it’s more than just her physical appearance. She has a vibrancy about her that is obvious and just adds to her beauty. 2). She is intelligent (which we also agree with), and 3). She sure can speak well! (I think numbers 2 and 3 are linked pretty closely.) All of these are true. In addition, our Princess is headstrong, manipulative, a horrible eater, and a born “bossy butt” (a phrase I have adopted from my mother).
When Princess was born, I had to work hard not to idolize her. She was this wonderful little combination of Dean and myself, the fruit of our loins, so to speak, and I loved her in that way that I described in an early post as being held captive by my love for her. She was/is spoiled horribly in many ways, but she has a sincere personality that helps her get out of sticky situations. She is tiny for her age, despite being a whopping 9 pounds even when she was born. Dean and I joke that she looked like a little sumo wrestler in her diaper when she was a newborn. It didn’t take her long to prove that she would not be big in stature, but in personality throughout her life. She is in maybe the 15% in her height and weight, but that doesn’t mean anyone pushes her around. “Though she is tiny, she is fierce” (William Shakespeare/A Midsummer Night’s Dream). She’s also loud, so while she might not be seen in a crowd of three year olds, she WILL be heard.
When I was pregnant, I prayed to God that she be healthy, smart, and beautiful. I know that looks shouldn’t be important, and maybe it was a prideful thing, but I distinctly remember praying that. Sure enough, she turned out all of those things, and I began praying obsessively for her health to remain and for her to learn to love Christ above all things. We tell her constantly how good, nice, smart, and beautiful she is, because, as teachers, we see the harm that can be caused when a child is not told those things (or, sadly, told the opposite) at home. I don’t want or mean to make her conceited, and I definitely don’t want to make her believe that looks and intelligence are the most important things to focus on, so I constantly remind her that loving Jesus is the most important thing we do in life. It’s hard to learn to balance these things in our lessons to her, but we sincerely try. It is important to me to build her confidence because I know that the world will try to tear it down. It breaks my heart to think that one day someone will tell my precious little baby that she is not _____ enough (i.e. pretty, smart, etc). I do think, however, that she has the personality to persevere in a world so mean. She’s a little fireball.
Princess began talking in complete sentences at barely 18 months old, which my mother soon told me was extremely early. I was pushing her in the buggy at Wal-Mart, and she looked over and said to me, “I want that.” I knew right then I was in trouble. I looked at my mom who burst out laughing because she knew what I was thinking. She hasn’t stopped talking since. She has always spoken clearly, so other people could actually understand her. Being so tiny, she was a source of awe to those around her. They just couldn’t believe a baby so little could speak so clearly and have such a large vocabulary. People have asked for tips to help their kids or grandkids speak so well, but the only thing I can say is that we never really baby talked to her. Honestly though, it’s nothing we did; she’s just a born talker. She does have an extremely country accent, which is hilarious because Dean and I do not. I’m not exactly sure where she picked it up, but I have my suspicions. At the same time, she will look at someone with her little accent and say, “I just don’t feel very well.” What three year old uses “well” correctly? It’s even cuter to hear, since it sounds something like, “I don’t feyul very weyull.” For those of you who live in the Appy Mountains, you’ll be able to translate the accent better than those who are not.
Princess’s best friend in the world is Sissy, who was 18 when she was born. Strange, I know, but very true. She has always had a special relationship with Sissy, even though she was only about 5-6 months old when Sissy started college five hours away. I’ve already shared that I am horrible at playing and Dean has to make up for it, but Sissy is great at it too. She is completely uninhibited about playing with little children. She will be as loud and wild as Princess whenever they are playing. Princess always thought that Sissy was her age, not a grown up, and honestly, I still don’t know if she completely understands that Sissy is an adult. In addition, Princess’s best friend list includes: Tumpy (my middle nephew), DillDill (Athack from way back’s son who was born just 3 months after her), and Tater (my oldest nephew who tries to tolerate her). All boys. We put her in dance this year, and she finally made some friends who were little girls. Dean has a cousin whose little girl takes dance as well, so she’s pretty good friends with Tay now. She knows other children, of course, there are kids at church who she plays with, and she loves the children of all of my friends who live near and far. In Princess’s world, though, the adults in her life are often enough. Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Nana, Papa, Memaw, Pepaw, Papaw, and Mamaw (and the twins) are plenty. I can’t wait until the time that my three babies are all best friends.
Here is what Princess has taught me in life: 1) Our children cannot become our idols. God gave them to us for our enjoyment, for us to raise them to love Him, and to teach us what unconditional love means. 2) She helped me see how simple life can be. 3) She helped me see how complicated life can be. 4) She helped me learn that self-control is a learned aspect of life for all of us that must be taught while young. 5) She taught Dean and me both how to not be selfish. 6) She helped me learn that no matter what, God’s will is perfect. I’m sure there are other things she taught me, but these are the lessons that come to mind.
This is my prayer for my special little Princess: “Dear father, bless my baby. Teach her to love You. Help me to guide her to You always. Take her strong will and turn it into a determination that will serve Your kingdom well. Taker her beauty and use it for humility to You. Take her intelligence and turn it into knowledge of You. Guide Dean and me in the raising of her. Help us to always seek your will in even the small decisions that will affect her life. We praise You for the time you have given us with her, and we pray for her to have a long, healthy life. She is so special to us and those close to us, and we praise You for her special little personality; please guide it into one strong enough to withstand the meanness of the world and always stand up for You. Help her to always keep her faith strong. We praise You, we praise You, we praise You.”
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