13 days & counting...

...until someone i live with turns f-i-v-e. and, do you know how huge this is??!! i mean, i know that five is big...she is embarking on being just a "girl"...without an adjective, such as "little", in front of it. she will be in kindergarten next fall. i mean, i do get it. but my almost five year old apparently does not think i get it.

almost everyday (and sometimes more than once...meaning, like, double-digit number of times...) i get this question:

"momma?" she asks.

"yes?" i reply.

"does this shirt/dress/outfit/hairstyle make me look five?" she asks.

"well," as i look her over. "yes, i think it does!" i'll reply enthusiastically. now, please don't take this wrong - my enthusiastic reply could possibly be heard as sarcasm to an adult person. it is lost on my almost five daughter. and that is okay. and it is not that i do not think she looks five in the shirt/dress/outfit/hairstyle, it is because unbeknowst to her, she has looked like a five year old since she was 3-1/2 years old! i am serious! she is very well spoken - not only in dictation, but in usage of many words. i attribute this to the fact that she did not walk until she was 16-months old. she had to learn to do something when she was busy not walking. (or crawling. she was a bottom-scootcher...) and she is tall. always has been. of course it is called "long" until the child walks, so she was "long" for a long time. and then tall.

here is an example (my favorite example, truth be told):

about a year ago, on a weekday, the girls and i were at the y getting ready to go swimming when a woman i did not know, asked me if the schools were closed. i told her i wasn't sure. she then asked me if i home-schooled (in a particularly judgey tone...) and i told her "not yet". she then got blunt, because i was just not understanding. she tells me: "shouldn't your daughter (pointing to my then brand-newly four daughter) be in school??!!" her tone was a mixture of accusation/horror/bossiness. and that tone was not lost on me. so, i made eye contact, cleared my throat (mostly to stifle my laughter) and merely said: "i suppose if she were older than four, she should be..." as i kept eye contact i saw her look at my daughter, look back at me, and tell me "oh, no she must be older...she is so tall..." to which i again, made eye contact, cleared my throat (to stifle another laugh...) and said: "nope, she is four...i'm her mom. this i know."

so, yep, my dear daughter...

you

most

certainly

do

look

five!