I love my 2 boys, but every once in a while I toy with the idea of adopting a little girl. Two boys I can control. Three, I am not too sure. Hence, adoption and guaranteed gender selection. Whenever I get these pangs, I have my 6 year old niece come to visit. I love her to death--she is the only girl in the family, and gets her fair share of deserved spoiling because of it. As she gets older though, the drama increases. Yesterday she was carrying around a pad and a pencil, keeping a copious tally of what my boys had done to please or displease her royal self, so she could equitably select who she would sit next to at dinner. My boys treat her like they would a fairy pixie. They are enchanted by her, but a little wary of losing favor with her and suffering her wrath.
So today we went to the pool to burn off a little steam. As I stood there in the pool, watching her have a fit on the side because I was standing back too far to catch her in the 3 feet deep section (which she can easily stand in), it hit me. Why I love her, yet am so perplexed by her over-dramatics and general craziness. She is me. I remember acting the exact same way when I was her age. I then thought of 3 things: 1) my mom was a saint to have not strangled me, 2) my sister is a saint for not strangling my niece, and 3) I was meant to be the mom of boys. Jumping out from behind doors to scare them, squirting a hose at them while I water the garden, wearing silly teeth at dinner. It all makes them roll with laughter. My niece just rolls her eyes.
I hope she has boys, too.
More on the new line next week..I am enjoying the remainder of the nap brought on by the swim at the pool, and then back to action!