Swagger

As much as I may complain about Maddie's feisty nature, there are times when I love it. I love seeing her swagger in our kitchen, full of mischief and determination. I love seeing that gleam in her eye, that certainty to her step, that absolute confidence in herself and in what she wants. I took her to "Reading Day" at the library, and after sitting politely for 5 minutes to the somewhat nervous librarian that was gamely singing his way through "The Wheels on The Bus", she gave me a skeptical look, stood and and announced to the room, "Bye bye. Maddie bye bye now", and with that proclamation, she said to me, "Mommy. Up.", grabbed my finger and marched right out of the room. God, I love it.

Don't get me wrong, there are days that I hate it too - like when I am trying to get her inside the house after a long day at daycare and work, when she is screaming and arching her back and yelling, "OUTSIDE! NO NO NO! OUTSIDE!!!" or when I am trying to get her in the bath and she is running butt naked around the upper level, laughing and yelling "No BATH NO BATH!" and all I want to do is get her bathed and to bed so I can eat some dinner...but most of the time I want to protect that little swagger. So many girls lose that absolute certainty, that confidence in themselves, as they hear from society that they aren't smart enough, pretty enough, thin enough...that they are too loud, too soft, too tall, too short...too whatever...

I want my Maddie to never lose that happy strut, to always have that confident gleam in her eye as she works her way around a room. I have a feeling that nothing can squelch my Maddie's true nature, but I promise to never try, no matter how badly I may want to go inside.