Mirielle with Mom hanging over her.

I want you to see how you fit into the big wide world (heads up kid, you are a teeny weeny piece of it and not at the center.)  I want you to see how you are different, how you are the same, and how you will always have more to learn.  I want you to explore the big wide world through travel, food, language, music, books, and most of all friends and family. I want all this to be easy and enjoyable for you.

Learning to explore the world.

In the past three years I have learned that all I can do is provide love, support and opportunities for you.  You are already your own person with strong (and vocal) opinions of what you want and don’t want and what you like and don’t like.  (The mango does not fall far from the tree.)

When the mango does fall, at least enjoy it.

• We picked a name for you that paid homage to your grandmothers’ French maiden names and your American birthplace. You now teach grown ups how to pronounce that name.
• We travel with you as much as we can to places near and far. You always surprise us with how you adapt, the new people you let us meet, and how you cry when we pull in the driveway at home saying you “want to take airplane” or go “back to hotel” or ask mommy to teach you to drive so you can travel by yourself. (Seriously.)
  

  Running off to the next adventure.

• We keep you away from a diet of chicken fingers and spaghetti so you eat chicken satay and noodles (and BOO-ee-toes and arepas and salmon and rice and whoopie pie).
  

  Who needs chicken fingers?

• I put you in a bilingual daycare when I went back to work.  Now you understand Spanish and tell mommy not to speak it as you can hear she does not do a good job.
• We play music from around the world.  You are a rock and roll girl, but started singing along in Arabic to Shara’a Simsim from the Sesame Street Playground CD on the drive to school.
  

  Singing off to school.

• We buy you beautiful children’s clothes (mostly from Tea) avoiding the standard bubble gum pink and licensed characters.  You pick out what you are going to wear each day and have a sense of style that even tweens complement you on.
• We buy you interesting toys and no matter where we go, you find a rock to play with and don’t need anything else.
  

  Rocks are a girl's best friend.

• We love you so much.  You have a special love that you share with almost everyone you meet, bringing smiles to their faces and ours.
  

  Bringing smiles.

It’s only been three years together little girl.  You have experienced so little of what the world can offer.  But, together, I think we are on our way to making you an independent thinking, fully engaged, little citizen of the world.

This is an entry for a blogging contest from Tea Collection.  I am a groupie of their clothing which you can probably see in 75% of the photos of Mirielle on this site.  Check back next week  for a review (which I wrote before this contest) and visit the Tea Collection blog if you would also like to participate in this contest.

Road warrior?

1.    Potty training goes nowhere at home, but on the road, she pees on every new potty she can find – without any aides.

2.    They cry as you deplane because they want to keep flying.  (Everyone around you breathes a sigh of relief that the crying waited until the end of the flight.)

3.    Finding the Playmobile figure’s medical case or seeing a picture of a suitcase in a Macy’s ad sends you child travel planning “Suitcase mommy! Take airplane to Hawaii?  Everyone take airplane?”

4.    Driving through certain shaped tunnels (just like the one as you drive under the international terminal to get to the domestic terminals at SFO) causes you toddler to start looking for “Airplanes, mommy?  Airplanes? Everyone go airplane to Vegas, Baby!?”

5.    She  calls the hotel “Home” even if it is the 5th one in a week (moving has its privileges).  She even prefers hotels to home, because hotels have elevators and swimming pools.