Two years ago, her parents entrusted me with her care.
Next week, I will hand her back to them, and she will enter the big, bad world of daycare.
I'm sad. I can't lie.
But it's time.
Alas, she remains untoilet-trained, and continues to speak a combination of Russian and French with a hint of Hindi -- unless she wants peaches or supe.
Then, her English is just fine.
Oh yes, and she drinks more juice than water most days.
I make no apologies. I am her grandmother, not her mother.
And I've never been a particularly focused caregiver.
When I need a nap I take one.
So for a time every day, the iPad has been the nanny.
Which might explain the Russian and the Hindi.
And her fixation on ghosts.
In my own defence, I kept her out of the hospital, though we did have a few close calls.
Like the time she brought the occasional table down on her neck.
Or the other time she tumbled down the stairs because a certain grandpa couldn't remember to close the door.
She's had a few scratches, that's for sure. That's what happens when a kid is raised by wolves.
When the Big Woof was alive, he used to take her down with his tail. Now she has the Puppy Pearl, and all bets are off. For the last few months, she's had to wear rubber boots to keep the puppy from nipping at her ankles.
Now the tables have turned. Pearl is actually afraid of her.
As am I.
Right from the start, Kennedy Rose proved that she was her own woman. She is a force of nature, Sasha Fierce with a mighty 'fro, a girl who sways to her own drum, sleeps when she damned well feels like it, and only knows a world where it is totally acceptable to have a mom who is Snow White and a dad who is the Huntsman.
She's had Donald Trump in her ear most of her life, but she only pays attention to CNN when she sees Barak Obama. She loves the sound of his voice. That would drive Trump crazy.
She may look like love incarnate, with soft eyes that have already melted a lot of hearts.
But she's a tough cookie.
Over the past few weeks, she's been benching her own weight between two arm chairs and I've noticed little muscles where the soft baby fat used to be.
I can't wait to see what she does next.
All I can say is be very, very afraid.
This girl is going places.
Watch out world.
Here she comes.
Don't worry about training, it's usually after they are three, and it's just physiological. Don't forget they don't get their full set of cells until they are four, when they recognize their whole new personhood.
ReplyDeleteA great article, Rose!