“Casa mea!” she yells joyously from the back seat. Every time. It is easily discernible from afar, as we drive on the windy road slightly uphill.
The sun drenches the entire valley, especially the hillside where our neighborhood is spread. We can’t go up. We simply can’t. There are dogs to chase and kids to play with… And simply to stay out in the sun. Two-three hours, with her backpack in hand, as she trues out Tudor’s toy car. It has music and a honk. She rides it fast to the end of the cul-de-sac. She is adventurous and I absolutely love that she goes on her own and I never have to push her to explore. With a few ladies we hear the music she keeps changing n the car “radio”. She stops, in her own world, and claps rhythmically with large gestures. Watching her from afar, expressing herself, fills my heart with joy to the point of bursting. I laugh outlaid. This girl feels the music in her bone.
In just two days of playing in the sun in the afternoon she got some sun kissed cheeks. Her nose is runny again. She learns to blow her wn nose but the wiping is a little more difficult. She streaks snot in a perfect line towards her cheeks. Daddy says it’s good for the skin. So we let it be for now.
This week she has been grounded, for something she said she won’t do and keeps doing defiantly. She protested with tears, and grunts, and whining every times she was reminded that she is grounded. No trips to the park, or to her friends, or playing with my earrings. The other day she told her uncle that she is grounded, why and what it entails, with amazing precision and clarity. As we use this disciplining method for the first time, we question the validity or its effectiveness, we search our own past and peel our eyes for clues that it is working. In the end who knows… but one thing is certain: she is now very confident in our boundaries and our keeping our word, even when it’s uncomfortable for us and for her.
This morning she asked: “I am not grounded anymore? (it sounds like being a “detective” in romanian) am I a… “banker” now? 😀 In her new favorite book “Jackie’s mischief” the eleven bears line un dressed in different costumes which she recognizes: fireman, diver, ninja, doctor etc and the last two one are a banker and a detective.