Saturday Musings: My Daughter Observes and Reports

When she turned five, everything she was thinking came out of her mouth.

My third daughter was a P-E-R-F-E-C-T baby.  Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky. This little lady was definitely one of the main reasons we made the decision to have a fourth.  She would sit in her bouncer all chubby and cute and watch the world go by.  She rarely fussed. If she was tired, she drifted off to sleep. If she was hungry, she rarely made a peep. Honestly, she was so easy to take care of and love. She was completely content observing. Her picture should be next to the definition of "laid back". It took her longer to walk and talk than it did for her other siblings because she likes to do things in her own time. Her own time is no-rush.

It certainly holds true today. When it comes to clean up time she wanders aimlessly observing everyone else doing the work.  Her observations have now been given a voice and she has always been very complimentary.  She has no trouble telling people--strangers even--what she thinks:

You have pretty hair.  To the woman behind the counter.
I like your earrings. To the girl in church.
You are so smart! To her big sister.
You are really strong. To her Uncle.
Nice outfit, Mommy. To me.

I know it catches people off-guard, but in a good way. I can tell because their eyes widen just a bit. They glance at me with a look of incredulity. And then they smile. I'm sure they have never met a more complimentary little girl.  The thing is not so much that she likes to kiss up, because she doesn't really know what kissing up is.  It is because she is an observer. She sees things others see, but won't comment on. She also sees things that other people don't notice and she comments on that too.

At five she does not have a filter--she says whatever is on her mind. I love her that way. I hope that she never looses it, because we need a person like her in our world. Someone who sees our beauty and tells us about it.

I'm afraid that she will loose it though because lately she is learning that the world isn't always "beautiful".  And she is commenting on that as well with a critical tone:

Wow. Someone's SMOKING. Ew. As we leave a restaurant and pass a woman blowing smoke.
You have lot's of wrinkles! To her Grammy.
He's Grumpy. About her tired Dad.
You're a LOUD talker. To an older gentleman.
Those jeans are tight! As she watches me try on clothes.

I find myself shushing her in those moments. Filtering her. Right now she's protected by her extreme cuteness, big brown eyes, bright smile, button nose, 5-year-old-spunk. But one day, someone will take offense.  And I'm afraid that there will come a day when she keeps her thoughts to herself--nice and not so nice. This makes me sad because we need people like her--watchers.

We need people who remind us of our awesomeness but also keep us in check. We might not always love what we hear, but it will always be the candid truth.