The spirited child

Pink sharpie + Sophie + mommy on important phone call = hallway and bathroom makeover.

I have "that" kid. Yes... "That" kid.

I was a pretty well behaved child, obviously I had my moments and I was far from perfect but for the most part I was respectful and did what I was told. When I became a mom, I had a pretty good idea how I expected my kids to be and how I wanted to be as a parent. My first daughter was so easy. She slept through the night almost immediately, had no health problems and is just a happy little girl. She's six now and is starting to somewhat venture away from mom a bit but for the most part she wants to be attached to my hip and just be apart of my every moment. She is sensitive and is emotionally wounded pretty easily but its because she has a huge heart. She is my flower child.

Everyone told me... Your first one is so easy, your second will be a little rebel.
Har har.

The day I found out about my little spirit child, she tried to kill me. Ok ok, SHE didn't try to kill me, but I was admitted to the hospital with a ruptured cyst that had caused some internal bleeding... But don't worry "the baby is ok." ... What baby!?

So that should have been an indicator right there that this was going to be a fun ride.
And it has. I used to feel bad for the moms in the stores who's kids were throwing a fit. Come on lady, get a grip on your kid.
Yea, well now I'm that mom. And don't think I don't see the looks. I do. I REALLY do. The other day at target Sophie had attempted to throw herself out of the cart, so I put her down to walk, so she  threw herself on the floor... Snot on her face, screaming, tears, kicking.... The whole nine. I saw the looks. I wanted to join her on the floor. I wanted to cuss you out for the looks, I wanted to cry, I wanted to simply walk away from the crazy child on the floor and say where is her mother. I was embarrassed and heart broken. Being a mom isn't easy. My husband is deployed and while I wanted to call him and cry and say "your kid is nuts, please give me a break for an hour." It wasn't an option. So I swooped my screaming child up, got kicked in the face & took the looks.

Today I was on a really important phone call and she got ahold of a sharpie. A hot pink sharpie. ;) Obviously you can play  out in your head how that went. Hallway and bathroom were exquisitely pink. She did quite a number. My first born got ahold of a marker once. Just once. This is Sophie's 3rd or 4th time... I've lost track. Some say this is terrible 2's but really, she's always been a rebel or as I like to say, fully spirited.

But do you want to know the CRAZIEST part?

As I walked down the hall, mixed with firery anger and wanting to cry because I knew this would add at least an hour to my to do list today, I was laughing inside and thinking, this is the stuff we remember. She saw a blank canvass, made it pretty and was so proud to share it with me. I knew I would write this down in her "me book," and I know we will laugh about later.

And with as wild as she is, I know she will put her all into everything she does in life.

Its hard being a parent to a wild child, but be careful how you direct their path. You don't want to stifle that kind of spirit.