Bo Peep Keeps It Real

My middle daughter, third youngest child, turns 6 today.

Bo Peep is a wonder to me. She's the only one who looks like me, but she's not at all a mini-me. This kid is her ownself, carefully navigating her way through siblings and school and big scary dogs and cancer. She loves vegetables. Vegetables! She'd rather have a bag of broccoli than a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

Starting school this year, it was like watching a bloom appear on a bush that you already really liked, but had no idea it flowered.

She was -- is -- very shy. Kindergarten was completely overwhelming at first. The second day of school, I walked her to class and she clung to me, sobbing. I cried, too. I wanted, more than anything, to just scoop her up and take her home.

But she got used to school, and fell in love with it. Her teacher fell madly in love with her, as does everyone who gets to know her. Including (sigh) boys. A few months in, I was chatting with another mom and she said, "Oh! I know your daughter! At Michael's birthday party, all the moms (all-boy party) were talking about how their sons have crushes on Bo Peep."

Thankfully, she doesn't return the feeling. Yet.

One of the really neat things that blossomed in Bo Peep this year was a tremendous sense of humor. She is so FUNNY! She uses her truly angelic-looking face to twist into grimaces and monkey faces and characters. She sees silliness as an art form.

She was three when Little Warrior was first diagnosed with cancer. As such, she's basically always known cancer. It doesn't strike fear in her heart, it's just a pain in the butt. Cancer means having to wash your hands all the time, and seeing more of relatives, and not being able to have other kids come in the house and play. And then you get over it and life gets back to normal.

The Boy and The Princess both are more gentle in how they treat Little Warrior; they tend to more often give her what she wants.

Not Bo Peep. Puh on that! As far as she is concerned, her sister still acts the same ... she still likes to play Polly Pockets and have tea parties and watch Dora. She still grabs toys away and yowls when she doesn't get her way. So 'Peep cuts her no slack. That's a good thing.

I've got to go now, and frost her birthday cake. It is -- of course -- carrot. Happy Birthday, Bo Peep.