Mags!

Oh my...what to say about my baby...besides she's a total brat! And the sweetest thing ever! All at the same time:
1. Maggie is a whiner~real bad! But only with family, or very close friends. At school I'm told she has a terribly sweet, helpful disposition. Her teachers have been shocked to learn that she's a whiner. So, I KNOW she can turn it off. She really drives Jon nuts with it.
2. She is a reading fool. Junie B. Jones is her current favorite...she's excited to be reading chapter books. I'm enjoying having a child who LIKES to read. She works it too, she knows I will always buy her books if I have the money. She's got a lot of books...
3. Maggie recognizes the value of sleep. She's the only one of my kids who does. She will occasionally ask me to tuck her in before 8pm, and almost always sleeps later than Liam in the morning to boot.
4. Maggie is a perfectionist in school. Not to say that she does everything perfectly...perfect seems to mean something different to her. She knows how she wants things to be ~ and she will settle for nothing less. She gets very upset if she misses a word on her spelling test.
5. Maggie likes cheerleading. She spent two years cheering with a competitive cheer team...she did not learn as much as I think she should have for the cost of it...but she loved it. She wants to do it again and I'm stalling...
6. Maggie is very expressive. She goes to great lengths to make sure Jon and I understand how she feels, hence the note we received on Saturday:
7. Maggie loves dressing up, I think this tendency is mostly my fault, I'll put some of it on Mom though. She's always gotten gorgeous dresses for Easter and Christmas and she insists on wearing them again at the oddest times. Two weeks ago, on a 30 degree day, she wore her sleeveless easter dress with tights a sweater and pink cowboy boots to church. I don't argue with her about it anymore. I have bigger battles to come I'm sure and I just don't think what she's wearing is one I want to fight!
8. Maggie loves doing arts and crafts. She draws and cuts and glues for hours if you leave her to it. I mostly do...though occasionally I do have a hissy fit over the mess.
9. Mags is VERY bossy...which really surprised me. I didn't expect that trait in the baby of the family. She bosses everyone around. The boys don't listen to her much, which causes a lot of hard feelings on her part. She's determined that she runs the house...we don't seem to be able to convince her otherwise, no matter our group resistance.
10. She has allergies, hayfaver. It's a curse I've laid at her feet and I feel really bad about it. She spent football season sniffling with red eyes. It was awful!

The older Maggie gets the more like me she is. I see this as a train wreck acomin'! She and I are both Leo's...both loud, stubborn, determined to get our way. I have SERIOUS concerns about her teenage years. I hope the bonds we forge now will hold up to it!
I adore you Margaret Jeanne!! You are my princess!!!