Creative Casey

I'm feeling the need to give a little "air time" to dear Casey.  All summer, before her recent fascination in food service, she told me her dream was to become a published author one day.  Girlfriend has the imagination and creativity to do it, I'm certain.  And I'm pretty sure she could be her own illustrator as well.  Every day she creates a new piece of art and each one just makes me smile.  I took a picture of a few of her recent creations, you know, because I don't scrapbook them :)

 

Yesterday, she handed me this piece of paper:

 

Yes, that would be a step by step instruction guide on how to draw her own new unique eye style for her portraits.  Then also provided a how-to for drawing smiles and hair as well.  I thought this was absolutely hilarious!  My bossy big girl has utilized her in-chargeness for instructional purposes to teach me how to draw like her :)  I often wonder if this will in some way be Casey's true calling one day - being in charge of....something... anything.  When I think of Casey's future, I really do look forward to seeing who this creative creature will become!!  I find myself, daily, trying to find the right balance between tempering her bossiness and argumentativeness, yet not suppressing it either.  Because while other 8 year olds may not want to put up with her brand of leadership, it is something that will serve her well when she's older and I don't want to strip that away.  I hope I don't screw up trying to help her find this balance.    

I recently was texting a couple of friends about school rules and they both commented that their third grade daughters were such rule followers.  I had to laugh myself thinking of Casey.  She's not a rule breaker in that she's looking to rebel or defy authority at all, she just genuinely thinks her way is better.  Period.  And she will try to negotiate her point of view with anyone.  She has some serious ingrained negotiating skills.  And she's outspoken about it.  I affectionately tease her that she could negotiate the paint off the walls.  Sister has skills in negotiating to get what she wants.  I like to believe we aren't pushovers as parents, in fact I find myself wondering sometimes if we are too strict, but either way Casey has been strong-willed since she was a baby.  Hurricane Casey has been our nickname for her since she was 3 months old.

 

I've talked to all of her teachers about this in parent-teacher conferences over the years and we've all end up chuckling about it.  Since pre-school, each of her teachers have told me that if they were off track on time or organizing what was going to be done next, Casey is the kid in their classes that will tell them they should be doing.  That's my Casey.  Thankfully, all of her teachers have been good humored about being bossed around by a student at times.  They've never faulted her for her being on top of things and organized, but she has gotten busted quite a few times for talking out in class.  But I can't give her too hard of a time about it, because I got "C's" in conduct all through grade school and Sister Rita even taped my mouth shut in the second grade one day,  (I guess that's the whole apple-and-tree thing, huh?) and I turned out okay, didn't I?  :)

My creative, artistic, bossy, funny, chatty, enthusiastic big girl.  I'm so blessed to have been given a girl with such spunk and I cannot wait to find out what she does with all these talents.  I mean find out what she's going to do with them beyond her 8 year old art masterpieces that I am awarded.  And this gem of a note she left me last weekend when we were butting heads a lot:

 

This, and locking me out of her room once, is the closest she's come to expressing how mad she has been at me.  She'll be 9 in November and I've yet to hear a "I hate you" or anything along those lines.  (Emily on the other hand will often tell me in anger "Don't worry about me!"  But that is for another post.)  From what I hear from other moms, that angry mother-kid drama has long started with other kids so I am enjoying the days of her anger being expressed in a note that I think is cute and sweet.  For all that I write about Emily's development and the unique experiences raising her, I never want to seem that I'm not as in awe with dear Casey.  I love this girl who needs me to tell her each night before bedtime what we are doing "for all these days" as she puts it.  I think it makes life seem safe and manageable for her, just as she likes it.  So she can wake up the next morning and an be in charge and create life to her design.