I have this girl.
When she was born I knew that things would be different this time. Not different in how her two brothers, a mere twenty months apart in age, are different. She is different because she is a girl. Say what you will about gender neutrality but I am a girl, married to a boy. We are wired differently. Not better or worse than the other, just different. Different is what makes us awesome.
This girl of mine showed her difference from the get go. She slept far better than her brothers ever did, and they were “good” sleepers. I would have friends come over for a play date and they wouldn’t even see my girl because she would be asleep in her room the entire time. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because this sweet baby girl of mine would often grab her friends and bite them. BITE THEM. I have no idea why, or what on Earth possessed her to do so, but she’s thankfully grown out of that interesting toddler habit.
This is not to say that she is no longer fiery. Oh, she is fiery. Her eyes flash and she wants justice to be served and she sheds tears so easily. She loves with wild abandon and is easily wounded.
Much like her Momma.
She is a sweet soul. Oh, the love that pours from this girl.
Every morning, she shuffles out of her room to the top of the stairs and says, Good morning, Mommy! I walk to the stairs and pick her up and she squeezes me so! tight and I bury my head in her neck and kiss her rosy cheeks and revel in the warmth coming from my baby girl. I sit on the bottom step and she sits on my lap and I ask her about her sleep and she tells me about her dreams and then she squeezes my neck again and I thank God for this little girl that I have been blessed with.
When it’s time for me to leave for work she yells “A hug and a kiss!” I hug her and kiss her and then she needs to hug me and kiss me and then we have to blow kisses to each other. There are fifty I love you MORE statements and then, You’re the best Mom that anyone in this town or on this planet or in all of space or anywhere in the Universe could ever hope for.
I tell her that she is the best girl that any Mom could ever hope for and then she hugs me again and then, Have a great day!
There are some struggles throughout the day, for sure. Her eyes flash because she wants something to go her way and there may be arms crossed in defiance or a bottom lip thrust out, but we’ve come a long way from the toddler years with the BITING and the THROWING THINGS and the GENERAL SHRIEKING. I learned a long time ago that she is wired exactly like me and, so. I know that the fire is for a reason and that she just needs to hear the words acknowledging her feelings. Kerfuffles are few and far between, which leaves us to enjoy all that she is.
She is smart and funny and ridiculous and kooky and absolutely hilarious. Her vocabulary blows me away and I keep wondering when she turned SEVEN, already. Her speech is also what reminds me that she is four (and a half!) because of how she pronounces words. ‘nember for remember, free for three, betht for best and, oh. I will be so very sad when she speaks with perfect pronunciation.
She is a chatty sort and will talk to me about her day and sing about her day when she is playing and will jump into conversations with statements such as, “Boys! Did you know (fill in the blank)?” While driving in the van on Sunday, Graham asked what we call the kiss when people get married. Emily replied “True Love.” She is constantly telling me that I am beautiful and that my dress is pretty and that I am so wonderful and she shines with pure delight while doing so. When I tuck her into bed we will talk about her day and she will spit out random facts. Last night we were talking about how much she loves her brothers and she said, “Yeah, but I try to kiss them but they don’t let me.”
When we are done talking and praying and rubbing her back I make my way to the door and we fire out I love you and I love you MORE and then she does it again.
You’re the best Mom that anyone in this town or on this planet or in all of space or anywhere in the Universe could ever hope for. I tell her that she is the very best girl that any Mom could ever hope to have, forever and ever, amen.
I love her.
So sweet! I don’t have boys (who are golden in their own right I’m sure!) but I ? having girls. And I double ? that photo of Emily, so pretty!
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So beautifully written. I’m envious of the relationship you have with her. You are so wonderfully blessed. And she is SO gorgeous in that photo – her eyes are stunning!
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Sniff!! I can’t help but feel a little jealous of this special relationship you have with Emily. I have 2 boys and have struggled a LOT with our (mutual) decision not to have a 3rd child, because, well … I would love to have a little girl. There. I said it.
Emily is such a beautiful girl, inside and out. She obviously admires you SO much, and she is blessed to have you as her Mama. I know you are blessed to have her, too.
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you are both truly blessed, and it’s so nice that you know it! what a sweet girl. what a sweet mama!
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Awesome! This brought a tear to my eye.
I have 2 sons…17 and 18. But they still give me hugs and kisses and tell me they love me when they leave…precious.
The best part now is that my oldest will say things like…”when I’m older I’m going to raise my kids the way you raised me…I didn’t always like it but it worked.”
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Laura Radniecki Reply:
May 17th, 2011 at 10:17 am
Patty, I had to laugh at your comment – I’m 25 and I find myself thinking the exact same thing about how my parents raised me. My husband and I don’t have kids yet, but I know that when we do, I want to raise them just how I was raised. I see others floundering through life and I think, “Man! My parents really did know what they were doing!” I’m happy your son known that too.
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thank you so SO much for sharing –
hubs & I have entered the procreation discussions (to or not to) and I have always been on Team Boy – if we’re gonna do this, I want a boy
but……………… maybe a baby girl would be kinda awesome, too =)
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Awwww! Adorable post! And look at all her hair!!
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So very much like my girl! It is so nice to read when people enjoy their children, they are such a gift. I don’t have older boys to compare with but I do have a younger one. Delightful in entirely his own way but definitely wired differently!
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That is so sweet. It’s making my ovaries cry out for a little girl!
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That picture of her is so lovely, I can’t stop saying so. Thanks for sharing a glimpse into your bond. xx
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I love this – makes me think that should we ever have a girl, it wouldn’t be so scary
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She is just so adorable. Look at all the hair she has now too, I remember when she hardly had any (just like me, I had no hair until I was 3).
I have a 9 year old boy, I’d love to have a girl too
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She is SO BLESSED to have a mom like you who loves her so much. (This coming from a daughter who always felt like she was in the way, rather than loved.)
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Who would not love such a precious human being?!
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One of our cousins, who shall remain nameless, was a fierce biter. Em must get it from our side.
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That is so sweet. Being the mom of three girls I can relate to pretty much everything you wrote. Each of my girls do things on a daily basis that speak to me and make my days so much brighter. I can see myself strongly in two of them and I aspire to be more like the other one, ha!
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so special! I feel like we have quite a bit of all that greatness too but with a smaller vocabulary annd more two year old fiestyness, encouraging to see what the next couple of years may hold for us too. I love reading how you are enjoying your blessings
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I love how we can call our girls our “best girls” since we only have one.
I do it too. And I love how your love for each other shines through so much in this post. So wonderful!
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I have 2 girls who sound just as sweet and awesome, and fiery as your Emily. I grew up with only brothers, so I was a bit scared to have one girl, let alone two, but now I LOVE it. They are so amazing, and even on the days when they make me want to scream, I still feel so blessed that they chose me to be their mama.
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Ditto what Hannah said! You know how I once struggled so deeply with not having a daughter but I am so glad you have your beautiful girl. You deserve it! And she is the luckiest little girl to have you as her momma!
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love this
and? love that photo! look at all that gorgeous hair!!
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I’d like to be President of the Miss Emily Fan club. She is just so fabulous. What a great little gal you have!
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