Jade

Let's talk about Jade. I get the feeling when this girl starts talking in full sentences we are going to be in trouble. When that day comes Jade is going to give us a piece of her mind. She has a whole lot of frustrations throughout the day. One of her biggest is that we trap her in the house. I know what you are thinking. Gosh Mande let your child play outside. No you don't understand. She always wants to be outside. Always!

I am finally getting my garden planted. I know it's November already but hey we live in the desert. We are zone 11. You didn't even know there was a zone 11 did you? Well there is so I figured rather than wait until spring I would give it a shot. I planted what should have been planted in September see will see what comes up. Last night while soaking the seeds I'm thinking how great this will be for Jade. Hours and hours outdoors. Her dream come true.

I'm in the garage gathering the supplies I need to finish my garden boxes and Jade will not stay within sight. Not only am I a total worrier but there is a river in our backyard and she is fast. A legitamate worry not just one of my many usual ones. So I am getting exasperated trying to keep her where I can see her. Trying in vien to convince her that the pile of leaves in front of the garage is just as fun to stomp in as any other pile.

I've gathered what I need and I ask her if she wants her red car. She responds with an excited huhhhhh sound and then, "Yeah!". Like I just came up with the best idea in the whole wide world. Alright and maybe it will help to keep her where I can see her. Nope. So I take her with me into the house to get my mp3 player and she starts to freak out. "No, no, no no!" I tell her I'm just getting something and exagerate my hurried steps and she gets it. A look of, whew we are still going outside comes over her face. A capri sun seals the deal but I still get a okay but hurry type look.


Outside I get my player set up with speakers and Jade drinks her juice and dances. I just watch her for a while. Music, capri sun and the outdoors. If only she were petting her very own dog then this would be heaven. I start turning over the soil in the garden boxes and Jade jumps right in. It was pointless of me to put on her adorable yoga pants thinking they would be clean for more than five minutes. I feel myself getting frustrated and she is getting filthy head to toe. I've learned it's pointless to stop her. Jade starts squeezing her capri sun into the dirt, then the shovel then down her shoe.


All the sudden it comes over me that this is who she is. She loves to be outside. She loves to get dirty. Why am I getting frustrated about it. Kids and clothes wash. It's just something I'm still getting used to. Jade is a bit wild in a good way but it can make things hard. Hard to keep up with her. Hard to keep and eye on her. It's difficult to constantly change her clothes, clean up her messes. So many messes. I swear Teagan when he was little (and still today) cleaned up far more than he ever messed up. Our carpet looks terrible. I could use a rake around her high chair. If you give her a cup or bottle she will pour it down the front of her just for the sensation of it.


Yet what makes her so hard to keep up with also puts so much life into her personality. I envy her passion for things sometimes. Often I remind Ian that she is not a regular little girl. While waiting for Teagan one day I ran into a friend of ours who was waiting to pick up his daughter from school. He watches Jade run from one side of the campus to the other. I don't chase her down until she could possibly get to the street before I could get to her. He is asking me questions about her and I mention that she is a handfull. I can't remember the exact comment he made but it told me that he got it. I'm guessing his little girl is much like Jade. I could tell he also saw the life it put into their personality and he apprieciated it.


I appriciate it too. I love her excitement about things. Her love of dirt and grass and trees. How she loves to roam and run. How she is afraid of nothing. How she knows exactly what she wants. How she never gives up. There have to be boundaries though and trying to keep her within those boundaries is really hard work. I worry that this type of personality left unchecked could be trouble. I hope I look back one day and see that I was worried for nothing. In the mean time I'm going to apprieciate my little girl for who she is and do my best to try to keep up with her and keep calm. Wish me luck.