Being Seven

Tomorrow is hubby's birthday. S and I went out tonight to do some LAST minute birthday shopping. She started talking the moment we walked out the door and didn't come up for air until we arrived home. Sometimes (especially lately) I find myself not listening when the kids are talking. I throw in the occasional "uh-huh" or "yeah", but I don't even know what I'm agreeing to. Tonight I was tired after a long day and I wasn't listening at all. Then I heard S say, "Mom, don't you think that is the best sunset ever?" It hit me. My daughter is seven and I need to pay attention.

Things I don't want to forget about S being seven:

*She is so creative. She constantly has BIG plans for things. Yesterday she wanted to build a flying machine (bless her heart). She spent hours working on a newspaper after she saw the Kit Kittredge movie. She wants to dress up as a penguin so she is working on a costume (out of paper) that will transform her into a penguin to the point that no one will recognize her. So far she has the wings done.

*She is a pack rat. I struggle with her desire to save EVERYTHING! She would reuse anything and everything if I let her. I have one junk drawer. S has LOTS of junk drawers. I sneak into her room when she's at school and throw things away...shhh.

*She feels everything very deeply. There can be a lot of drama at times. I struggle not to laugh sometimes, and I need to have more patience.

*She loves to be home. S is my home body. She would be perfectly happy never leaving the house again. Ever. She constantly asks me how many more days until she has to go to school.

*She loves to be with friends. She is very social now. I need to be better at planning "friend time" for her.

*She is very curious. She always asks what things mean and how they work. She is finally catching up to her vocabulary. Meaning, she is actually correctly using all those words that she picked up somewhere.

I love her so much. After all, it's me and her against the boys.