All about Maddie

Oh, my dear sweet Maddie, who is so like her mother in many ways but so different at the same time. I'm chuckling inside as I write this because I have so many flashblacks of my early childhood as I am raising Mads. For instance, every time I brush Madlyn's hair (it's better now that it's short), I can't help but think back to my own wails as my mother brushed my hair. And every time I ask Maddie to use the bathroom, or remind her that the house isn't a jungle gym, I hear my mom's words echoing in my ears. Madlyn is a bouncer. She doesn't walk from place to place, she jumps. It doesn't help that she recently learned to jump rope and even if she doesn't have her rope handy, she practices the jumping almost constantly. I'm reminded of a time a few years ago when I was serving in the Young Women organization and we were doing a "get-to-know-you" activity. We asked all the girls' mothers to give us one word to describe their daughter and we as leaders were to ask our own moms or think of one ourselves. I called my mom and she chuckled a bit as she told me that the one word she immediately thought of to describe me was, "Tigger". Oh, how that describes my Mads. And I tell you what, I have definitely mellowed out as I have grown up. Too much, I think.

Madlyn is a little pack-rat. As a person who likes to streamline everything and hates clutter, it drives me crazy. It is difficult for me to go into her room and see all her piles of stuff everywhere, even though they are neatly organized. I can't even begin to describe the things she collects but it would make you laugh. Every once in a while, I have to have an intervention and I "help" her clean her room and throw things out. I often tell her that if it doesn't fit on a bookshelf, in a drawer, or in a cubby, she doesn't need it:) Last night, Jeff sat down to watch his lecture for his class. Exasperated when he couldn't find his headphones (again), he made his way to his daughter's room where he said she quickly pulled them out of a little stash of junk she had stowed away and handed them to him. We've learned that if we can't find something, we often just need to ask Madlyn and she will have it stashed away somewhere, either being used in one of her homemade contraptions, or by itself just in case she needs it sometime. And about the headphones, this is about the 5th time in the past week that Madlyn has taken off with them. She did come in a few minutes later and promise that next time she would ask before she takes them;)

Madlyn is quite the fashionista. She is always putting different outfits together, sometimes using items from my own closet to supplement her own clothes. The other night for bed, she came out dressed in some leggings with a cute sleeveless top covered by a button-up shirt. That's what she wore to bed, folks. The next morning as we left to take her to school, I noticed she was wearing the exact same outfit.While it was too late for her to change, I did tell her I didn't want her wearing the same thing to school that she wore to bed the night before, hehe. She reluctantly agreed. Hey, but maybe there is something to it. Get all ready the night before and then there isn't much to do in the mornings:)

In so many ways Madlyn is already light-years ahead of me. She is so thoughtful and giving, always helping me and taking care of her brothers. She is a natural-born nurturer. She is very wise and mature and I learn so much from her perspective on life. I am so lucky to get to be her mom and I love her.