present...

The moment you realize your child is becoming an independent person…I finished up my daughter’s first trimester parent-teacher conference a couple of hours ago and I have so many thoughts flowing and brewing in my head. She is a leader, she is bossy, she asks for more math during free choice time (like her father!) and she is very sensitive. All of these I knew walking in…and I was so incredibly proud when the first words out of her teacher’s mouth were, “I want you to know, first and foremost that Malia is such a joy to have in class and I absolutely love her big personality.” My daughter, the little bean of a person I held in the crook of my arm 6 years ago, is now a leader and a little girl who brings joy to the lives of others. Not family who love unconditionally, but her teacher and her friends who can choose to love her. I often wonder how I am so lucky to have a little girl with so much love to bring. She has a huge heart and a caring soul and those around her feed off of this. She is already motivates and inspires people to love and learn. And through these words of further encouragement and excitement from her first grade teacher, the characteristic or trait her teacher spoke to was Malia’s inner drive. She said Malia has a fire, a drive to learn, a thirst for knowledge, and she needs no motivation to find her resources and put in the effort to absorb. She is a self-starter, self-motivated. I don’t know if it is an innocent love for learning, a desire to better than those around her, a fear of failure, or she purely enjoys learning new things. What I do know is the one undying heartbeat which has kept me pushing and has supported my perseverance is my inner fire. The great ones have that inner fire, that undying drive to succeed and to improve. I am not calling myself great. Everyone knows that is not the case. But I am starting to learn that my daughter has the base to become great, and is blessed with the engine to push herself to new heights. She is talented and has a different sort of desire. She is my daughter, and I will do anything in my power to nurture and support anything she is passionate about. I love her, more than anything in this world. And today made me smile and dream of what she might be. Wow….what a birthday present…