Hope's personality

Hope has her moments. Like when she decides to start her day at 6am, or when she has to negotiate footwear for ten minutes, or endlessly delay rest time. But really, she's the most compliant and drama-free kid I know. Thank God, because I love compliance and freedom from drama!

Today we were going to go for a picnic in the park. We'd been building it up all morning, and she was really looking forward to it. So when I pulled up to the gate and realized this particular park is closed on Tuesdays, I thought she'd be terribly disappointed and I'd need to scramble for an alternate idea. But instead of a meltdown or anything ugly, she just said "It's ok, Mommy." We ended up doing an errand instead of the fun we had planned, but Hope wasn't at all grumpy or sassy. She was actually sweet and funny and playful the whole time - that's just how she IS.

I realize all kids are different, but with Hope reason works ten times better than any method of discipline. In most cases, if she really understands why we're saying something needs to be some such way, then she's on board with it. Unless we're talking about why she should wear sandals instead of glittery shoes - reason doesn't seem to matter then.

As always, Hope would rather spend her hours making her little action figures ("fig-ur-eens") talk than just about anything else. It really can be mind-numbing, but occasionally it's fascinating to see what she comes up with. Yesterday we were playing with a king/queen/prince/princess set and by the end of the game the prince arrived on a flaming comet to save the princess from captivity and help her save the hundred golden fish eggs she'd adopted. Maybe when Hope writes her first novel she'll dedicate it to her loving parents and grandparents and the years of their lives they spent indulging her imagination!

Like most kids, I imagine, Hope gets excited about new concepts. Right now, thanks to Bread and Jam for Francis (one of my old faves) and our farm share starting up again, Hope is big on the idea of trying new foods. She's always been good about eating fruits and veggies, with lettuce ("leaves") being of notable exception, so I don't usually push it if she doesn't want to try something new. But when we brought home radishes from the farm last week and I admitted that I thought I didn't like them but was going to try them again, she got brave too. Turns out neither of us love radishes, but they weren't disgusting either :)

Lately I'm really working with Hope on not wanting to buy everything she sees in a store. Whatever it is that she wants to buy, I know the novelty will wear off within a day or two because for her it's really about the thrill of the purchase. And that kind of makes me crazy. We have so much, and we need absolutely nothing (thank God!), and the girl is plenty well indulged! If I have the foresight to talk with her in advance of going into a store about not having "the wants," then it goes better. Again, she resonates with reason. And again, she's never once (really, never ever) had a fit about not getting something she wanted in a store. Looooove my drama-less queen!

Hope really is my little sunshine. She is tons of fun to hang out with, she's smart as a whip, she makes me see things in new ways, she volunteers her love and affection all the time, and she's everthing I could ask for in a little girl!