(picture taken close to her exact birth moment. I figured I would only interrupt lunch and not math time for the photo)
So, time for my yearly blog post. Evie turned 6! She was born, I blinked and now she's 6! Ok, maybe that's not quite how it all went down but it kinda feels like it. The biggest change this year was that my big girl started Kindergarten. I had all these worries and fears months prior to the big first day. I was worried that she would be scared, would cry and cling to me as I turned to leave, would be too shy to talk to anyone and therefore not make any friends. I prepared her and myself as much as possible. The first day came, my mommy nerves were at an all time high. We walked in and she sat right down, started talking to the girl next to her about unicorns and said "bye mom!" and that was that! I managed to leave the classroom before the tears started to roll. My goal was just not to let my girl see me cry-mission accomplished! She is a smart girl (must get that from her mom) and is learning lots. She is reading, writing and doing addition and subtraction. Her only downfall is that she talks-all the time! (that part she did not get from me) She is participating in the read, right and run marathon with her school in April where they will run a total of 26 miles, read 26 books and do 26 good deeds over several months. They will run the last mile as a part of the GO! St. Louis marathon events. I will running the Go! St Louis half marathon the following day. She is loving it and I am loving that she is starting healthy habits and an interest in community service at an early age. She is in dance class again this year. We decided just to take one class this year and she chose poms. We are looking forward to seeing her recital in June. She goes to the Wednesday night kid's program at our church. They just finished making pinewood derby cars that they will race next week. It was a good time for daddy to bust out his car making skills too.
OK,so those are the basics about her life as a 6 year old but let me tell you a little more about who this special little girl is as a person because I kinda think she's awesome. I won't lie, this past year has been a bit of a power struggle as she is learning her own mind and has her own strong opinions and is not afraid to voice them. As a parent this can be totally frustrating because it was so much easier when we could tell her what to do and she just did it, no questions asked. But, I realize she is not a robot. She is a person with real feelings, needs and goals. She is just in a learning stage. She is learning how to appropriately and respectfully express herself. I just have to remind myself that this process takes time and I pray for wisdom and patience as we figure this parenting thing out because believe me with each stage in a child's life comes something new. I am not entirely sure that you ever "figure out" this parenting thing though. She is a sensitive girl that feels everything so deeply. I often have to remind myself to be careful with my words so that I do not hurt her sweet spirit. She is such a grateful child and tells me Thank you with such sincerity for even the smallest things. She has a gift of encouragement. She never hesitates to tell me what a great mommy I am or if she notices me doing something that she thinks is good she will tell me what a great job I am doing. She is artistic and creative. She loves to draw, color, write stories and do crafts. She has quite an imagination at playtime as well. She is funny and sarcastic and I love that she gets some of our jokes now. She still lets me snuggle in bed with her before bedtime and it is such a sweet time between the two of us where I get to hear what is on her mind, what makes her happy, worried or sad. She tells me her problems-not that a 6 year old has really difficult problems but to her they are important and I am thankful that she shares with me and I pray that as she gets older she will continue to come to me and seek my advice. It has been amazing to see this little person that God blessed me with grow from a tiny, helpless infant into this "big" six year old girl that can do so much and is learning every day. I pray for her to grow into a woman who knows and loves God. I want her to know His grace and love and be someone that shows that same grace and love to others. I want her to be confident in the person that God created her to be, never conforming or changing to fit other's perceptions of what is "right." I am so thankful yet so overwhelmed sometimes by the task that God has given me to raise this amazing girl. I am going to try hard not to blink because I am pretty sure when I do she will be 12 and I will be sitting here trying to figure out how she grew up so fast.
