Miss Munchkin

"Look Mom, I can stand on the ceiling!"

Every since Miss Munchkin was little, she has been a very active child.  She was walking at 9 months, climbing trees when she was 2, and ran in places that she should have walked.  Along with her energy, she was very bright, very determined, and very, very busy.   I was exhausted!  I remember taking her to the library when she was two.  She ran away from me and I found her dancing on top of one of the library tables.  Honestly, there is a reason that there is a 7 year age-gap between our children.  I thought, "How can people have more than one of these impossible creatures precious children?!" 

With age came maturity and, thankfully, a drop in her energy level.  She was still determined, however.  She taught herself to ride her bike when she was 5; peddling furiously around the cuald-a-sac, sweaty and red-faced, falling over and over but refusing to give up.  It was the same with swimming and skiing.   When Miss Munchkin was 9, she decided that she wanted to go diving for treasure.  It didn't matter that we lived in land-locked Kansas.  She set her mind to it and, at age 10, became a certified scuba diver.  She passed the adult written test and all of the grueling physical and mental tasks set before her.  I remember standing on the edge of the lake, watching her disappear beneath the cloudy waters, where she had to go down 25 feet, remove her face mask, empty out the water and put it back on.

Now that she is almost 16, I see that some of that same stubbornness determination.  She's decided that she's going to be an "A" student.  She will be testing for her Black Belt in mixed martial arts this year.  As difficult as she was during the early years, she has actually been a delightful teenager.  And I'm really proud to be her parent.