So it dawned on me yesterday (in one of those brutal sucker punch kind of ways) that I am now more of a spectator to the Natalia Show as opposed to being her co-star. Sometimes I'm even the director, but she is mostly doing improv routines now. It's not really sad as much as it is different because I feel like it has just happened so quickly. Seven years seems like such a short time.
A few blogs ago I wrote about trying to teach Natalia how to ride a bike. You may remember me writing about how she just has to figure it out on her own, in her own time. Well, this week she decided to take off peddling. I am happy to say she hasn't plowed into any mailboxes yet and her knees are still intact. She did kindly ask us not to cheer her on because it distracts her and she loses her balance. Sheesh. It must be exhausting to be a child to such inept parents, right? She didn't need us to tell her how to do it, she really just needed us to be around to watch for cars (because she is busy concentrating), and to watch for the ever present threat of STRANGERS (yep, she's a cop's daughter, alright). She did at one point hit a bump and yell out "Ow, my vagina!". Did I mention this was on Jeremy's watch while I was at work? He was slightly mortified, but I am proud of her near anatomical correctness. Now if she had said "Ow, my perineum!", that would have been over the moon hilarious. Maybe I'll teach her that word tomorrow. She swears she won't be a nurse because my job is disgusting; she just has the lingo down. Oh, that reminds me: Natalia has a new form of measurement. She was trying to tell me about something that was a lot, or big and she said "it's as big as my bladder bag". That's my girl.
It is so much fun to watch her little personality evolve into it's own human. I mean, she has some of my traits and some of Jeremy's too, but really she is her own individual person. It is a deep "Jack Handy" thought when I start thinking about how there is only one of her in the universe. There will never be another person like her and I think she is totally cool. I notice this more as I sit in the director's chair.
So, part of me taking a step outside her personal bubble means she no longer thinks I know everything. Bummer. I kind of liked that omniscience. She told me today that there is a new danger on the playground. Parents, guard your children from the Green Granny Smith Spider. You may not know this, but according to Natalia it can spit venom out of its mouth and take out five kids in one second. Are you listening to me?! One second! It gives you a warning hiss, then will spit and spray in a horizontal line catching five kids by surprise. Pray to God that you are the sixth kid. She says she saw this spider on the playground the other day and one of the kids was dared to touch it. Well, he was really scared, but touched it and then "he went out". I asked her if he died right there and she rolled her eyes at me and say no, that he just "went out" and she made a fainting motion. The kids around him tried to push the ill fated child to get him to wake up, but he wouldn't move so they called the teacher over. I asked her if this kid was a drama queen and she assured me that this child seemed very legit. I tried to tell her that there is no such spider, but she started crying about how I never believe her and invited me to come play at recess to assess the Green Granny Smith Spider situation for myself. I think I'll have to check it out.
I did manage to impart some very key wisdom on Natalia tonight. She was telling me that she made a "squirrel habitat" (her words) today as school. This wasn't a classroom project, mind you, but just something she decided to do out of the goodness of her heart. I asked her if was a squirrel like a weird human, or the little animal. She gave me a very puzzled look and told me she didn't know what I meant. I told her that at work we call weird humans "squirrels". Her reply was "Well, it is made of grass and bark, so it has got to be for an animal". I reminded her of all the people daddy sees at night who live in the park (which is why we don't use the park tables at Albertson's Park) and sleep on the bark and grass. I could tell that she agreed with this very sound logic and assured me that it was for the small animal squirrels, not the weird human varietal. It's all about the details, really.
I plan on sitting back to enjoy this new perspective. No one can explain to a non-parent how much fun "just watching" can be. It's not about living vicariously, but about seeing this fascinating human enjoy the world for the first time. I guess I am more of the entertained audience to the Natalia Improv Comedy Hour than director. That's fine because it's my favorite show.
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