She's the youngest in the class and the smallest, by a landslide. I hear from her teacher's that she makes up for her size in other ways. Namely, putting her foot down literally and figuratively with most everyone in the classroom. She apparently does not discriminate based on age or education either. Teachers have also been targeted. With initial concern, I regale them with assurances that we will not allow back-talk to continue. I use all of the therapy buzz-words that I can muster to signal to them that we do not intend to raise a heathen. But after some careful thought, my initial worry has morphed into something I hope the teachers can't see...a small flicker of pride. I never wanted to raise a "yes girl". Perhaps we need to work on her approach a bit more but I'm glad she possesses this type of confidence. Confidence I don't ever remember having.
So on Thursday, when she reached for her certificate, having completed her first year of preschool, a shadow of exasperation fogging the teacher's expression, I stood in the back of the classroom clapping, hoping my smirk wasn't too obvious. Hoping my pint-sized spit-fire will get it all figured out before adolescents. Hoping her teacher won't have the last laugh.