To our dearest Allison,
Okay, so just like that, the day is finally here...You are now 5 years old!
I know, it is not 7, nor 16, or even 21.
But 5 years old? It sounds like, I don't know...should I say "BIG?" A Birthday of 5 means a lot like; the nearing end of your preschool days and with that being close to entering elementary days, you starting to have your own identity, and you trying to do things on your own and veer from being dependent to being independent.
Five means you are still a toddler, yet you are starting to show shades of being a young child.
Honestly, I think it is starting to feel like you are becoming less our baby and becoming more like our little girl, literally and figuratively.
Hey, maybe because you are our only child, but being "Five" feels so wonderful and enlightening at the same time.
You have grown so much and that has made me and your mama proud, yet you, my daughter; I can say that you have forced me to grow too. You know, grow up so that you can be proud of me too. When I feel down and overwhelmed with all the tough things life brings me, there you are, the sturdy and resilient kid trooper reminding me that there are so many beautiful small things in life that I am taking for granted and failing to see that those are, in fact, really big things. Your attitude reminds me to take life as it is just like a kid...worry about nothing!
Every moment of the year that you were "Four"; from the good (learning to read and write for the first time) to the bad (you starting to fight back to me when you are being scolded), I have cherished them. I take them as moments that I was given the opportunity to be your parent. Not all people are being given moments to be a parent to someone that you can call your own "daughter."
You are now 5 and you are independent, stubborn, strong-willed, bossy, difficult, easy, loving, cuddly, selective, tough, and brave all rolled into one. If you were a sandwich back when you are four, I can say that you upgraded to a "sub" really fast, if you know what I mean.
A lot of times, people tell that you are more like your mama than me and I just let them slide, but this time around, I can say that I will object a little. You see my dear daughter, you are really like your mother and at the same time you are like me too, gaining additional years in your age started to show the side of you that you got from me.
However, I can also say that you are not like your mother and you are not like me.
Why? Because you are "perfectly" you.
I believe that as you grow, you start to carve a niche of yourself. Your roots become more stronger. You become more defined. You become more of yourself, more beautifully and adorably you.
My Little Pony, Shopkins, Coloring, Drawing, Running around like there is no tomorrow, singing to songs that are way ahead of your age and singing them even if the lyrics are not right, and even imaginary play.
Your world is so wonderful and your childhood spirit really shines through with every bit that you do.
Soon after you are 5, there will be more people, young and old, in your world that I may or may not know and strangers that are out of reach, and suddenly that time, life will be less safe and a tad scarier that all I can is hold my breath and hope for the best - hope that the world will be kind to you when that time comes.
However, if there is one thing I am sure when that time comes is that you will always make us proud and I know that you will "shine."
To close this one out, and again, to wish for a new and exciting year ahead of us, I will do it differently. Instead of using a line from a favorite animated feature of yours, I will use a line from a favorite song of mine instead; Owl City's "Shooting Star"
"When the sun goes down and the lights burn outThen it's time for you to shineBrighter than a shooting starSo shine no matter where you areFill the darkest night with a brilliant light'Cause it's time for you to shineBrighter than a shooting starSo shine no matter where you are tonight"
- Papa Ecko
Ciao!
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