The Birthday Girl!

My girl... she is now 5. Where has the time gone? What can I say about Mirsy? My blonde haired, blue eyed, musical, card writing, baby loving little girl? She is SO like me and then again, SO NOT like me. Chris and I laugh at how similar we (Miriam and I) are & I scratch my head when I consider how different we are. We both love organization. She wakes, meticulously folds her pajamas and puts them under her pillow. She lines up her stuffed animals in categories we didn't even know existed. If she turns her back and Daddy moves one (just to see what happens) she rebukes him- "Daaaddd, why did you move my bear?" I can give her chores that I wouldn't even dare give her brother. Why? Because I know she will do them well and her work will actually be helpful to me. I remember my mom saying the same thing about me and chores when I was young. :) Now the differences- I care too much what people think of me and she doesn't care AT ALL about the opinions of others. Well, I guess it really depends on the circumstances. For instance: she decided that this year she WOULD NOT eat at her school during lunch time on her own. She told me she would eat lunch at school starting next year. You see, she enjoys the school food, is very capable with a set of chopsticks but informed us that she did not want to eat by herself but wanted her teachers to feed her (which they did last year in her 3/4 year old class). The teachers told me they just didn't have the time to do that this year. I told them I completely understood. During the first week of school we rewarded our children, who ate at school by themselves, with small treats. Miriam was never a recipient. We tried the "if you don't eat lunch there won't be anything until dinner" and after a week we decided that this option wasn't a good idea for our tall and thin girl. We came up with another consequence... "no eat lunch- no sweets". That goes beyond the no soda or candy. We weren't kidding. - no syrup on your pancakes, no jelly on the PB&J sandwich, no juice, ...She started her "no eating lunch at school" strike on September 6th... she finally ate lunch at school on October 26th. She was going to eat at school but she was going to do it when SHE decided. Wow! What a strong will.

Though her strong will can be difficult to train (and boy do I find myself often praying for wisdom as how to best train our daughter) we look forward in anticipation to seeing how Father will use her strong will for His glory. I can just imagine seeing this headline one day - "Miriam Hanley stands unwavering in her fight for the rights of the abused or neglected..."

As Miriam matures and learns to communicate what is in her heart it is a delight to see the love that she has for others. She is the first one to run and jump up to help her sister when she is hurt (that is when she wasn't the who caused the injury :). Miriam is the one to ask to cuddle in your lap while we sit and watch a show together. She is the one that still loves to hold hands- all the way to school and back again. She is the one that still loves to tuck her sister in and cover her up- play time and bed time.

It is such a deep joy to have Miriam in our family and we're thankful that the Father has given her to us for this time.