A Very Powerful Seven Year Old

My oldest is a very imaginative, expressive and competitive little girl. She gives her hardest try to everything she attempts – a trait that I admire but am a bit mystified as to its origins. Over the weekends she always gives herself a project to complete. One weekend she constructed a “doctor bag” – complete with Red Cross emblem emblazoned on the side, intrigued with the intricacy given the project, I had to add cotton swabs, cotton balls and bandages – after all every physician needs the correct tools. On another occasion she constructed a water lily, complete with lily pad and water surround, she didn’t even know the name of the flower, just that she saw it on TV and as per usual she happily took it to school on Monday morning.

I thought that her motivation was simply a need to make material the workings of her little mind but how far from truth was I. You see last week no project went to school. It was either that she was unable to complete her latest endeavor – a jewelry box- or she was dissatisfied with its construct or so I thought. Thus I enquired and was told “Mom, it was not good enough to beat -------.” I furthered, “who is that Honey?” She sighed dramatically (believe me I was expecting to see the child throw her hand up to her brow and swoon next) her eyes wide with conviction, “------- is a very powerful seven year old.”

Immediately my mind conjured up images of a godfather type seven year old puffing a Cuban while ordering her six year old hench people to make my daughter’s projects sleep with the fishes – we are in Jersey after all; or a seven year old in a wall street power suit with a strange comb over hairdo telling my daughter’s projects from her comfy leather seat over a rather large boardroom table – “you’re fired.” I had to ask…

What makes her so powerful Honey?

She always trys to beat me at everything I do and on Monday mornings she always says her project is better than mine and she’s seven, I‘m six.

Oh. Well keep up the good work!
Daddy, your sister and I think your projects are just great!

What else could I say? I think,...I’m sure glad,... Maybe, we got that settled. Did we?