I'm So Proud

My daughter is three years and three months old. She is a delicate child with long fingers and short reluctant-to-grow blond curls. For three years now, since her first Thanksgiving, she has been markedly reticent around people she doesn't know well. (On that first Thanksgiving at Grandma's house, she screamed her head off until I brought her home.) She is sensitive and a big fan of fingernail polish and pretty dresses.

This morning, she climbed onto her kid-sized table in the kitchen and proclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen!" She noticed me watching and shot a shy, sly glance my way. She paused dramatically. I waited for a song, a dance, a recitation of the alphabet.

Then she announced, "I am going to kick your butt!"