Our Princess

She’s ten and she’s who I want to be when I grow up.

She was brought up confident of being the center of 5 adults’ universe. She got everything we thought she needed, and sometimes, what we imagined she wanted. She didn’t have to do a single thing that a grown up could do. We watched over her health like a hawk and shielded her heart from being scarred by a naturally nasty world. She was called Princess, Baby and Angel. She was likely to grow up spoiled.

But our Princess remained kind. She never criticized. Never hurt our feelings on purpose. Never hurt the dog’s feelings on purpose. Didn’t throw tantrums inside stores, didn’t demand things, understood that sometimes money’s hard to come by. Sits through someone else’s TV show when Barbie’s on the other channel. She sees that other kids have much less and readily gives up her most favorite chocolate bar. No prodding needed. Our Angel was kind.

She’s only ten and I want to be exactly like her.