Spirited...

My mother-in-law gets me Willow Tree figurines. She has since Xmas of 2007 when I was pregnant with Gracyn. This year, she got me this one. It's called "Spirited". She said that it's my Gracyn fingurine (I also got a Nate one, a man and child one, and one with three women in it).

It makes me happy. Happy in that warm fuzzy kind of way. I like that it's called spirited. We've been known to call her willful (which has it's own connotations) and, on occasion, a brat. Spirited means something different from those. It means that she is marching to the beat of her own drum, an individual, someone other young ladies should look up to. That is what I want for her.

I think about some of the young ladies I have come in to contact with throughout my teaching career. A number come to mind, but when I think of who I want my daughter to be like I have to choose several and throw them in a blender. I want her to have Katie's heart, Helen's confidence, Ciara's fearlessness, Jahan's soul, Megan's spunk, and Taylor's intelligence.