Yesterday was CJ’s seventh birthday.
No matter that she can still pass for five (albeit a particularly loquacious five) or that she swims with kids years older than her (and shouts at them when they drift into her side of the lane). The toddler who went to speech therapy to address her delays now brushes her first grade teacher’s hand aside in impatience and demands additional homework. This girl is all over the map, and if I can barely keep up with her now, I know I’ll be in trouble years down the road.
I don’t just mean that figuratively; recall that this is the child who went out running and came home with the sheriff on her heels. We’ve already been in trouble.
Adults love her (most of them do, anyway). Other kids…well, that depends on whether she loves them. CJ is not especially concerned with fitting in. She does as she pleases, and sometimes that means she does it on her own. While I caution her against bossiness and lack of tact, I praise her independence of thought and interest. To thine own self be true — that’s CJ, and I admire her for it.
Happy birthday, Ceej. Keep being who you are.
