Rambunctious, Athletic, Smart, Witty – A Story About a Daughter

My oldest daughter is quite a character.

She’s witty.

She’s smart.

She’s got a dry, dry, dry sense of humor – which happens to be the best kind of humor to own.

Sarcasm is her spiritual gift.

She has the perfect come-back every time.

When she says something, people usually listen because it’s going to be funny.

If she is in trouble around here it’s always usually because of her mouth.

As a small child, if she stuck in a designated room for a designated period of time it was most likely because she said something that was funny disrespectful.

OK, it was funny.  BUT you have to say it to the RIGHT person – your friend, your sibling, your neighbor, not your mom.

Smart, sarcastic, mouthy commentary directed towards your mother doesn’t arrive at pleasant circumstances around here.

Before you continue reading, I thought you should know that:

• Yes, she has read this.
• Yes, she laughed.
• Yes, she approved.
• And, Yes, she doesn’t assault her siblings anymore (very often).

Anyhow,  she’s a ton of fun and we are blessed to have her as our daughter.

As a small child she has always been more fun than the average bear.  She was always the loudest, wildest, craziest, most physical and STRONGEST child in our home (of 4 children).  It has never mattered that she was younger than her brother.  Until recently she has had the upper hand.

Of course, she did not know her own strength.  This is generally not a good combination:  strength without knowledge.  If she gave you a “loving” pat on the back, watch out – you’re gonna feel it.

If your wildest child also happens to be your strongest child, who doesn’t know her own strength- there’s going to be shock waves of epic proportions.

She never meant to hurt anyone.  She was always playing, always laughing, always having fun.  But the laughter regularly ended in tears (oh, and it was normally not her that was doing the crying).

This girl has also always been extremely coordinated, so she could pull off indoor, Olympic-sized events without getting hurt or breaking things.  This was not true of anyone else in this house.  It didn’t help that our house just wasn’t that big – so Olympic events were not necessarily a good idea.

If something got broken, dented, spilled, dropped, destroyed, damaged, busted, cracked, crippled, crushed, mangled, shattered or smashed she was probably the master-mind behind the casualty.

When we heard tears, crying or pain we know who was probably the culprit.  No, she didn’t do it on purpose. No, she never meant to hurt anyone.  But she did.  We’ve spent years teaching her the difference between “carelessness” and “accidents.”

When your brother trips over your boots & gets hurt that’s an “accident.”

When you talk your brother into jumping off the couch backwards and he “misses” the pillow pile and gets hurt it’s, “careless.”

When your brother slams his finger in the car door it is an, “accident.”

When you intentionally jump onto the book that your brother is reading and consequently break his finger it is, “careless.”

There’s a difference.

Our kids have all taken classes at one time or another at a little “cottage school” in a neighboring county.  See how happy they are to be at school!

A cottage school is a part time school for families who homeschool.  Our cottage school meets 2 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday).  This allows our kids to experience “school,” be around friends and it gives me a chance to go to the store in peace.  Hallelujah.

We have been a part of this little cottage school in one way or another for 8 years.  Right now our 2 youngest are attending there twice a week.  For as long as we have been a part of the school they have been giving out “Fruit of the Spirit” awards at the end of each school year.

The Fruits of the Spirit can be found in the Bible,  Galatians 5:22:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Every child who attends the school is awarded for their demonstration of one of these, “fruits.”

On the last day of school our children came home each holding their awards, full of pride and joy.  We were excited for them and couldn’t wait to see which attribute they had been faithful with at school that year.

Our youngest daughter received, “Joy.”  Perfect for her – she is always a smiley, happy, little thing.

Our youngest son received, “love.” Probably because he is totally berserk and “love” is a good fall-back if you’re a little knucklehead.   🙂

Which fruit of the spirit award did our little tyrant receive?  The girl who is always hurting her siblings?  The one who ends each “game” with pain?  The one who is probably responsible if someone else in the house is crying?

What fruit does she most posses?

What attribute does she display on a regular basis?

Which award did the school give her?

The child who regularly assaults her siblings?

What award did they give her?

Are you ready for this?

“Gentleness.”

The school gave her a fruit of the spirit award for, “Gentleness.”

Ba-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!

DH looked at her award, then at her and then he said,

“You ought’a give that back.”

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🙂

Candi