A day in the life of spirit

Well, we are back to normal around here. B seems to be feeling just fine. She was extra chatty and extra active all day. I've recently had people ask me what is so hard about B and why I would consider her "Spirited". Now I have a suspicion these people may have a Spirited child of their own--and maybe even more so than mine! Or, remember, I only have this one kid! People who have four with one or-oh-my-goodness-more than one Spirited child in their group will surely be wondering why I think my girl is a little harder than the normal to raise. Now don't get me wrong here people, I don't think she does anything out of the realm of ordinary, I don't think she has special needs or anything like that. I just think on a scale of normal for things like activity or frustration level, she is always going to score on the high, high end. Not so high that she's "diagnosable" as I like to say but so high that parents who have different personality types of children think, whoa, glad that's not my kid! But I always have loved a challenge and have a suspicion that I may have been this same way as a kid so I'm so thankful God saw fit to let me be the one to raise her. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round, right?! But let me give you just a few examples of what I think makes her "spirited"....

You may want to read a past post: Top 10 ways to know your life is filled with Spirit! to get a good start on what it all involves.

For one thing, as a parent of a Spirited Toddler you notice that naps get harder and harder to make your child take. And sleep for that matter just does not seem that important to your child. In fact, the less sleep B gets the worse she sleeps, but does that bother her? Not enough to actually sleep! She would rather be grumpy, rubbing her eyes, throwing fits that she gets in trouble for then to just finally settle down and sleep.

I also notice that she notices EVERYTHING. We can be in the grocery store and she will see a Shrek on a cereal box that is literally 2 inches tall and no kidding, 20 feet away from us and be pointing out Shrek and insisting on seeing it. I on the other hand have no idea what she is talking about because who in the world notices those kinds of things even if they are looking for them!

Here's one....

What do Yo Gabba Gabba Toys have in common with the little touching statue of the Father with his baby? She broke them! In a nano-second. Poor Foofa lost her Flower top hair and Plex had his arm amputated and lost the handle on his door. This is just the most recent pile of items that I saved to take a picture of. She is forever trying to figure out how things work and what buttons do and that sort of thing, therefore she is always prying, turning, twisting, etc. And well, this sort of thing happens. And she is extremely quick about it. (We are wondering if she will be an engineer someday.)

I wish I could put into words all the times things go a little haywire around here with her. Its so often and normal now, I think I just go through the motions and don't even think about it being odd. When I talk to my friends who don't have a spirited child I am quickly reminded. Let me just sum it up in my next pictures...

This was lunch. She got down so quickly to check something out on the floor (because she notices everything remember) that she pulled her place mat with her entire meal and cup of milk (which poured over her head on the way down, notice the plastered down part in her hair) onto the floor and all over the sides of the chairs and table. So whether there is a mess like this clean up during the day or not, this is pretty much how it feels a lot of the time to raise her... Like one big chaotic moment. Is she stinking cute in the middle of it? Absolutely. Is it a bit overwhelming to think about the job ahead? Well sure. Does it take extra effort you weren't planning on? I can't lie, it does. Would you trade it? Not with that cheesy grin staring back at you, not for anything in the world.