Lucky Seven

Words.

They are your lifeblood, Little CEO, and always have been.

You are the talker, the reader, the writer, the storyteller, the asker of questions.

Babbling incessantly at 7 months old. ABCs at 13 months. Reading at age 3. And now, the most expressive reader I am delighted to know.

Words drive you.

When you are sad, you are compelled to use every word you know to explain why.

When you are angry, you make words your weapons.

When you are bored, you seek the companionship of books.

When you are happy, words flow out of you in a mad rush, your brain working much faster than your lips ever can.

When you are frustrated, you do not stop until the last word is yours, and yours alone.

When you are confused, you ask the most pointed of questions for clarity.

When you argue, even the trained attorney in the family (me) cannot best your logic, cannot shake your faith in what you speak.

I love that you love words; that they are always there for you.

The words we heard about you this year amazed and scared us:

Gifted. Disorganized. Brilliant. Challenging. Creative. Stubborn. Artistic. Rigid. Free-spirited. Inward-facing.

I am overjoyed at how extraordinary you are. Yet, l wonder if perhaps being a little more ordinary would be easier on you.

These dichotomies exist in you as blessing and burden.  You believe you already know how the world should be, how each day should unfold, how every minute task or game should be completed. Any divergence from your plan shakes you, upsets you, makes you show those sides of you that are less in sunlight. I watch as you silently fight with your own mind,willing it to not be so rigid.

Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t.  But with each passing year, you win more than the year before. You show more sunlight.

When you shine, it is brilliant and blinding.

When you love, it is fiercely, and forever.

I didn’t realize this until we whisked you away from Texas and you felt the sting of leaving your friends. We shook that world view of yours until you almost didn’t recognize it. You faced more struggles this year than ever before.

But you are conquering. Growing. Overcoming.

You are learning to love anew; that there is place in your heart for more, not less; that it is more fun to dance in sunshine than to hide in shadow.

Pretty amazing for a girl who turned seven today.

And so I hope that the word you use a year from now to describe age 7? Lucky. Lucky to have words as your friend. Lucky  to be so extraordinary. Lucky to be loved. Lucky to always have another opportunity to grow and learn and change. Lucky to be you.

Happy 7th birthday, Little CEO.

Tagged as: the kids are alright