photo credit: anita.marie This day each year is a day which I celebrate twice!  Why?   Well first and foremost it is my kiddo’s bday and she is more than happy to let all people around her know this.  If she could she would probably run up and down the street knocking on doors and letting all our neighbors know that it is her birthday.  Second, well, that would be me celebrating the fact that I have been able to keep a human being alive for another year!  I know what you’re all thinking, I rarely pat myself on the back or declare my superiority, but on this day I think I’ve done a really good job with kiddo.

I know every parent I’ve ever met thinks their child is the best and greatest iteration of the human species, I however have corroboration from several sources.  Including those that say they are not a fan of most children.  If she can break boundaries like that and have people like her despite their obvious distaste for her kind?, age?, lack of adulthood?  Regardless, I just had to let everybody know how happy I am that my kiddo is turning out to be such a great person.

She makes me laugh.  She makes me want to tear my hair out.  She makes me realize that she really does listen to everything I say, especially the stuff she really shouldn’t.  She just is, and that more often than not is amusing in itself.  She can sit there and play by herself, though there seems to be a constant stream of her play thoughts out loud.  At times you can tune in and catch a good chuckle, such as when one of her stuffed animals goes on a killing rampage, or a zombie apocalypse hits her toys.  Cries of shoot it in the head resound off the walls in the house, while the survives try to escape from the obvious zombie trap!  Mermaids will board pirate ships and lay claim to them and terrorize the high seas of kiddos bedroom.  She got tired of playing with me because I would try and utilize mythology and historical stories in our play time.  That’s not as fun apparently.

I think my favorite thing about her is her ability to love and her empathy she seems to have for others.  Even if someone crosses her, she can still see what is bothering them and will try and help them.  Admittedly that can lead to people taking advantage of her, as shown by her entry in the Pokemon trading card world.  Her friends would ask her to trade pokemon, and give her energy cards in return, all to say, welcome to the real world!  I think the only reason she felt bad about it was because I could beat her deck easily then.  That and the talk she received about trading cards she got from H and I.

So how does one balance that?  The love and empathy against the fact that it seems like everybody is out to get you in the world now days?  That is my biggest concern lately and hopefully won’t be too horrible of a problem in the future.  Just know that right now, my child is awesome and she has survived another year, despite having me as a father.