My Daughter

My daughter is growing up so quickly. I can hardly believe that she's nine years old. I have to remind myself of that often. I think that since we homeschool and we're not around other kids to compare her with, my mind gets stuck in time and I forget that she's growing up. In many ways I'm glad that she's not like your average 9 yr old. Her maturity level is where it should be, even though her interests are very simple. And she is (I would say) above average in intelligence. But yet I still find myself holding her back sometimes, thinking "she's not old enough for that", when indeed she is.
She's learning how to cook more and more and loves to help in the kitchen. She cooks her own breakfast most of the time; eggs are her favorite. She washes the lunch dishes every day and has other various chores around the house. She's always a big help to me.
She amazes me sometimes with her comprehension of the Bible. Of course, she doesn't understand everything (who does!) but she can explain things to me at times that make me marvel at her understanding.
She's told me that she wants to be like me when she grows up and make clothes for her children. She's off to a good start with her sewing skills. She's not finished with her rag doll, but she works on it a little each day. She's not thrilled about the hand sewing (although I'm convinced that she'll thank me for it one day), but she's working hard to finish because I told her she could make the doll clothes on my machine... that's a big step! Her Nana Hope sent her lots of fun fabric, lace, and buttons for her birthday and she's planning out a whole doll wardrobe.
This weekend she was inspired to do another cross stitch project. She finished this in one afternoon all on her own. I was proud that she figured out the pattern by herself and did such a nice job.
The crafting bug didn't go away and she's been busy. Do remember these from when you were a kid?
Potholders, potholders everywhere! The potholders aren't especially useful, but they sure are fun to make, so I encourage her. Poor thing... her hook broke years ago and I haven't been able to find her another so she's been using her fingers. No complaining though... she's having too much fun.
She's taken to writing letters lately and addressing them and putting on the postage herself. She wrote one to Sword of the Lord a couple of weeks ago requesting a free catalog. She read in the back of one of their books that she could do this and she took them up on the offer. It was good to see that her business letter reflected what she had learned in school last year. She was thrilled to see HER name on the catalog that arrived last week... her own mail! She promptly made a list of a few carefully chosen books and counted out her birthday money to make sure she had enough. But she made sure to set aside $10 first to send to a "poor family".
She is on the right path and it's my fervent prayer that I can guide her along that narrow way and not cause her to stray or rebel. What an important job we have as parents; what an awesome responsibility. What a JOY!