The World According to Bailey

Since time goes by so quickly and I just as quickly forget what's going on in the here and now, I thought I'd take the opportunity to document some things about each one of the kids. I've seen several parents interview their kids to capture fun anecdotes, so last night I prepared and asked Bailey the following questions. I've typed her answers exactly as she provided them to me.

1. What is your happiest memory?

When I found out my mom is having a baby. Not Nolan, but the new baby.

2. Why do you like about being a kid?

Being young because you have a lot of time until you get old and die.

3. What is one word that best describes you?

Weird!

4. What advice would you give your parents?

That I don’t lie ALL the time. (*Note: As you may be able to tell, we're having an issue right now with those little fibs to get out of trouble.)

5. What do you like to do for fun?

Roller skate.

7. Tell me about a funny time in your life.

Well, one time Mrs. Dobbins made a fart noise with her mouth when she didn't like something someone said, but no one knew it was with her mouth. It was really funny.

8. What do you love most about your sibling?

He likes most of the things I like, except foods. That kid is strange.

9. What is the nicest thing you've done for someone?

One time when we were at the nursing home, I helped a man hold his cookie so he could eat it because he was having a hard time with it.

10. What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now?

Getting all A’s in high school.

11. What do you think makes a person good-looking?

Their eyes.

12. Name two things you like our family to do on the weekend.

Go see movies and shoot hoops.

13. What is the grossest thing you can think of?

Someone eating bugs.
14. What do you think your husband will be like?

He will be a loving person.

15. How many kids do you want to have when you grow up?

3

16. How old is your Mom?

36 (*Note: Ahem, I am not 36 until April 26, thank you very much!) 

17. What is your Mom's favorite color?

Red.

18. What is her favorite TV show?

The show where the women scream at each other. What's it called? (*Note: She means the Real Housewives!)

19. What does your mom do for work?

Helps people with marriages and having babies. (*Note: I'll take it. This explanation is probably just as good as the one others in my family would give.)

20. What do you like best about your mom?

That she’s having another baby.

21. How old is your dad?

39

22. How strong is your Dad?

VERY

23. Where does your Dad work?

Well, right now he works at school and some hospitals for school. And at home.

24. What is Dad's favorite TV show?

That show about digging gold. (*Note: Gold Rush)

25. What is your favorite thing to do with Dad?

Go to movies or go roller skating.

26. What do you like best about your Dad?

That he’s good at every sport.

Well, that was fun.

As I've said before, Bailey is growing up and it's both exciting and scary - for us and for her. She's on the cusp of asking questions that will be the end of some of childhood's magic (SANTA), and has already asked some that are the beginning of her journey to adolescence (SEX). To be honest, I think I handled the latter much better than I will handle the former!

She does very well in school, loves to read, and each of her teachers thus far has shared with us how helpful Bailey is in the classroom, particularly with students who need additional help with their work. I think Bailey takes pride in helping her teachers. Actually, I think she likes helping others in general, as she looks forward to volunteering at the Food Bank, visiting nursing homes, etc. If only we could figure out how to make this work the same way at home!

Bailey is well-liked by her peers, but Bailey is like me in that she does better with one or two good friends into which to invest her time. Many times, though, she matches herself up with the social butterfly type who is a little bit invested in a lot of people, as opposed to a lot invested in a select few. This has yielded a few teary conversations about friendships. I know that this is all a part of the learning process, but I feel for her because I remember those same emotions from my own childhood.

This is also the time when kids start to be concerned about how they look. Bailey hasn't expressed too many concerns just yet, but she did make a passing comment this week that she hates her full lips. Jason and I both reacted with incredulity as this is a feature of hers we, 1) don't know how she got since neither of us have full lips, and 2) think is one of her best features! But, of course, she doesn't care what we have to say on the subject. I'm sure this is just one of many complaints to come in the future.

As for activities, she continues to play basketball and soccer, and she dances jazz and hip hop.  We had a great soccer season as we decided to play her in her own age group (U8), so now she's the oldest kid instead of the youngest. This, coupled with getting on a great team with a great coach, was a good move and she gained a lot of experience and skills. In basketball, she plays co-ed, which we're not sure we like at this age, but she is holding her own against those aggressive boys. She even scored 17 points at her last game! Finally, she loves to dance....it's yet to be determined whether she'll stick with it long-term like I did, but she does well and enjoys it for now.

Finally, this is no surprise if you know her personally, but Bailey is extremely headstrong. This is challenging for us in terms of dealing with back-talk and an otherwise "know-it-all" attitude most of the time. I recently started trying to give her piano lessons and each and every lesson is torture since she's always right and I'm always wrong. :-) This dynamic is something we're working on as a family, but can sometimes overtake our days because we often feel helpless to effectively communicate with her about contentious issues. Parenting ain't easy, folks! While I definitely do not like this part of our journey, I do try to remember that hopefully being headstrong will benefit her when peer pressure starts to enter into the picture!

I guess that's it for now about little Miss Bailey. We love her so very much and know she's going to be a wonderful big sister to the new baby!!