I just got off the phone with my darling daughter.  I don't see her or talk to her as much as I would like.  She li es close, but works nights and pretty much has her own life that I try not to interfere with too much. But occaisionally, like today, she calls for help with something or just to say hey.  I realized that I hadn't written much about her so I thought I would take a minute to do so because I think e eryone should know just what a great kid she is!  So here's my quick take on my baby girl.

Name: Alicia Dawn

Nicknames and explanations of each:

Sunshine girl: She was born in Homestead, FL and was the first grandchild on both sides...this is what her paternal grandparents called her.  Who knew that she would grow up to be a true "sunshine girl" lighting up all of our hearts with her quick wit and beautiful heart!

Alicia Dawn Pancake:  While grocery shopping one day  when she was about 7, she slipped on some ice in the parking lot just as a car was pulling into that slot.  After she finally calmed down, her comment was"Mommy, I was almost Alicia Dawn Pancake!"  The name stuck with me.

Beesha Butt: Both my daughter and I are blessed (or cursed) with a J-Lo type rear end..She calls me buhdonkadonk and I usually respond with Beisha Butt...(Sometimes just shortened to Beesh!

There are a few others, but those are my personal fa orites!

So, what else can I say about this child of mine?  She has more writing talent and creati ity in her little finger than I do in my entire soul.  Her poetry is heart wrenching and makes one sit and ponder for hours the depths of her words (She writes under the pen name Saline Satie).  

She married her perfect soul mate last year. And while I wish she would ha e waitied just a bit longer to make that leap, I cannot deny that she is happier than I ha e e er seen her and that's alright with me.  He's a great guy from a good family with Christian qualities and he treats her like the princess that she is. So what more could a mommy want?  She doesn't want children, he does.  That may be an issue before long, but for now, they are happy.  I hope in about 10 years, she changes her mind about the kid thing.  She claims she is too selfish for children.  She is a bit selfish sometimes. This is, perhaps, the one quality that she could use a little help with.  But, I think deep down we all are in our own way.  She is scared to death to operate a car.  This worries me too.  I don't want her to be like my grandmother and be totally dependent on someone for the rest of her life.  But thinking back, she wouldn't ride a bike or her Barbie Power Wheels car either.  I think her grandmother is to blame for some of this.  She was always so scared that she would get hurt, she wouldn't "let go" long enough to let her try stuff on her own.  Of course, this is the same woman, who now wonders why she doesn't dri e!  I'm working on a plan for this one, I just ain't got it perfected yet!  

She li es for a good book.  ( That's the one thing we ha e always had in common).  I remember calling my mother one day asking for ad ice on how to get the child outside and away from the books for a while.  Mother laughed and said she remembers when I was little and she would put me to bed, only to come in 20 minutes later and find me with a flashlight and the blankets o er my head reading a book.  I seem to remember doing that a time or two!  She was reading on a 4th grade reading le el when she was in Kindergarten.  It posed a real problem for her teachers because they couldn't find reading material that was suitable for her age that she couldn't breeze through in a matter of minutes.  I wish they would ha e found some math word problems for her to focus on.  Unlike her mother, she is horrible with numbers.  I was not alot of help with this when she was in grade school.  Math was like second nature to me so I had a real hard time understanding this with her.  I was always like "150-49=101!  What part of this don't you understand!"  I would get so frustrated that she didn't get it and then she would get pissed off and go the other way and refuse to do it at all.  Good thing I didn't pursue that teaching career, huh?  Hey, I was young...I didn't know what the hell I was doing when I was raising this one!  Poor thing. It's a miracle she turned out as great as she did.  Growing up with a mother who was growing up!  

I did manage to make sure she had impeccable manners though.  I remember being in a grocery store when I was about 13 and hearing this kid that was about 4 years old saying things to her mother that I would ha e gotten my teeth knocked out for.  And shortly after that I was out to eat with my grandmother and there was this little, rotten, rude kid next to us.  He was a such a snot to the waitress and his parents did nothing!  I thought to myself then, "my child will ne er act that way in public".  And I made sure of it.  I always told her, she could be a little hellion at home, and I would deal with it. But when we are out in public, she better be a freakin' angel!  And she was. Always. When we would go out to eat, she would sit and fold her napkin in her lap, elbows off the table, please and thank you to the staff that waited on us. And they always ate it up!  "How sweet". "What a well beha ed young lady.." etc.  Usually resulted in free cake or ice cream.  That was ne er my intention.  I just wanted to make sure she knew how to act in public!  Once we were taking my grandmother to the grocery store and Alicia started acting up a little. All I had to do was lean down and whisper in her ear..."Is this how a young lady acts when she is out in public?"  And she replied, "No, ma'am" and then apologized to me. (This was my grandmother's fa orite story to tell..she lo ed this next part).....and then without being told to do so, she told my grandmother she was sorry for acting out and she hopes she didn't embarass her.  And that, my friends, is a well mannered and considerate little angel!  My grandmother would tell that story all the time. She would always say, " I don't know what Monica said to her, but boy, it worked."  I ne er did tell her what I said.  I also always swore that I would not be one of those parents that had to scream at their children to make them mind.  And I ne er had to.  If I raised my  oice at one of my kids, it was only because they were about to do something to harm themsel es and I was trying to get their attention quickly.  If you scream at your kids all the time, they will learn to tune you out. So when they are about to run out in front of a car and you yell at them to stop ...well, they will, quite possibly, become little pancakes!  

But I'm straying from the topic here...supposed to telling you how great my kid is, not how she got that way!  Tee hee....just kidding. Honestly, I had little to do with the wonderful person she is now.  I just taught her the basics.  She's a smart cookie and figured out the rest on her own.  Well, I ha e been at this for far too long and ha e bunches of Sunday Stuff to finish up before I absolutely lose the will to do it, so I better go. Thanks for listening...mh.