Hidden Talents

I'm constantly finding myself thinking and rethinking how I behave as a parent and the effect that has on our daughters. One thing I've frequently been pondering lately is the difference in how I parent the two. At the moment Daughter #2 seems to get away with murder just by blinking her big blue eyes and giggling or crying (whichever she deems most appropriate at the time). This doesn't surprise me one bit as I've watched my younger sister (and parents) behave the same way. What does surprise me is that my sympathies don't always seem to lie where I would assume they would, which is with Daughter #1. Maybe that's because she's a self proclaimed "Daddy's Princess."

That said, I've been trying to pay more attention to Daughter #1 this past week and found that she has a few very bizarre hidden talents. We'll get to those later. What I've also discovered is a very sweet, helpful little girl whose probably needing a few more cuddles than she admits. I've always thought of her as an independent little gal whose had a mind of her own ever since she was a tiny baby, and somehow I've seemed to fail to appreciate her sensitive and caring side.

Here she is making Valentine's Day cards.

As promised, Hidden Talent #1 is that she always seems to have a song in her heart and can delightly "rearrange" lyrics to make them more appropriate for whatever task is at hand. Just this week, the "Bare Necessities" from Jungle Book became the "Recycling Necessities of Life."

Hidden Talent # 2 - She demonstrated this week that she does have the ability to fall asleep in a room with a crying baby. Now that's impressive.

Playing with the New Strawberry Shortcake that she earned by using the potty.

And lastly, Hidden Talent #3 is that she apparently is able to pee horizontally out of her little potty chair (past the splashguard) and onto the floor a foot in front of her.

Note to Grandparents: This is NOT something that is open for discussion or to tease her about when she's older. I was just shocked that it was even physically possible and then a little ticked that nobody (meaning you Our Dear Parents) never fully explained how many gross things kids do.