Three words (or bragging about your child)

This is a fun activity that some moms I know have been playing. The question is “If you were to describe your child in three words only, what would they be?” This is a question that in one form or another, has been percolating through my mind since the day Katrina was born. It is really hard to attribute characteristics to your child, especially your first, without knowing if what you are observing are normal developmental stages or truly their own personalities shining through. However, approaching two years of observations both of Katrina and other children in her age cohort, it has become a bit easier. The three top characteristics that I would assign to Katrina (in no particular order) are:

A sense of humor – sure, all kids like to giggle and laugh. But with Katrina, it is a mission. She not only likes to laugh when someone tries to amuse her, but she also asks us to make funny faces, to tickle her, and to chase her. Laughter is expected to be turned on and off at a moment’s notice. Katrina also loves to make us laugh. She tries very hard to be serious (with the lower lip jutting out) and then to catch your eye to see if you think she is funny (we often do). She likes to play the “Where is it?” game where she hides her hand, fingers, spoon, stuffed animal, or other object, then walks around with her shoulder shrugged and arms in the air, asking “Is it?” Only when you start to “look” too, does she pull her item, giggling “Ta-da!” that she has tricked you into being silly with her. We have often gotten reports from daycare of Katrina spending tens of minutes cornering some kid into a giggling showdown, so it seems as though she is also sharing her humor. It is true that Katrina is not all laughter when she first meets you or sees you after a long pause, (she often seems shy and observant), once she warms up to you, she is all about smiling and laughing. I hope that this is a trait that will remain and help her through the ups and downs that life will throw her way.

A sense of fairness – Although Katrina is definitely going through her “Mine! Mine!” stage typical of those approaching two, she has also exhibited an unusual sense of fairness. If she is playing with a toy that someone else wants to play with and we tell her that it is someone else’s turn, she hands over the toy. This doesn’t mean that she does it without reservations – she will often hang around and after 10 seconds or 10 minutes, proclaim “Trina’s turn!” In addition to understanding the idea of turns, Katrina also makes sure that she distributes things fairly. Whenever she is making coffee in her play kitchen, we all get a cup (along with instructions “Hot! Blow, blow!”). Whenever she is ripping up old mail, we all get pieces of the trash. Whenever Daddy tires of flying her around the room, she proclaims “Mommy’s turn.”

Curiosity and drive – Yes, all children are curious, and I held out on ascribing this trait to Katrina for a really long time for that very reason. But the truth is that we hear “That?” all day long and are often able to help her transition from one activity to another by the promise of something new. She always wants to be held to see what the other parent is cooking on the stove; she loves to point out different things on our walks. Katrina seems able to work on a problem to try to solve it (especially when we aren’t in the room to be asked for help) and I don’t often see her abandon a project until it is done (although it can be left temporarily). We are trying to encourage her hard work and the biggest reward is the sense of pride and achievement that she gets on her face when something finally goes her way. It is really heart warming to see.

While I know that this is a list of three things, other characteristics that I would ascribe to the Kikster are: an independence streak, a good mix of caution and socialness, and a love of reading.