Future CEO

I have been reading a book called The Child Whisperer. It is actually really good. I have read about 2 gazillion parenting books, and this has to rank up there among the best. It has really helped me to understand Claire, in particular, quite a bit better. But it works for all the girls as I get to understand and know them better as well. But today I will focus on Claire.

Claire is a spitfire on fire. She is loud and in charge- she wants to be the leader, be in control, and get her way with everything. This feisty personality will, indeed, allow her to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company someday. But in a 7 year old it can be exhausting to parent. I don't want to stifle her natural uniqueness- her tenacity and grit and enthusiasm for life. But at the same time, she is still only 7 years old- she isn't in charge. And she has sisters and a family to work with. Balancing all of that has been a continual struggle.

The other day was a perfect Claire day.

While I was eating breakfast she told me she wanted Rapunzel hair. I needed to eat breakfast and shower- not deal with creating Rapunzel hair. Calmly I said, "Claire, you are brilliant and resourceful. If you want Rapunzel hair, I know that you will find a way to make it happen." Off she ran. After my shower, I came downstairs and Claire had about 20 feet of Rapunzel hair made out of tights, barrettes, and rubber bands. She wore it most of the rest of the day.

We had a literature circle that day. Claire was in charge of being the "Reporter." This means she comes up with questions to ask about the book for the group. All of the other kids wrote 2-3 questions, but not Claire. This 7 year old who hates writing said, "I want to fill up the entire page with questions" and completely on her own filled the entire page with questions just because she wanted to.

She titled it "Clown's Masterpiece." I have no idea why, but she didn't even need to think about it- it just came out.

After the lit circles, the girls were playing with their friends. Claire took marker and colored on blue eye shadow. Because, why not? When you're Claire and you want eye shadow but you know you can't get into mom's eye shadow, you figure out a way to make it happen.

Then, later, we were practicing piano. She has been working on a song that she hates. She whines and complains all the way through it constantly. Finally I said, "If you would just learn this song, you could move on and never have to play this song again!" She finished the song perfectly- even though she had never played 4 of the lines before.

With Claire, it seems to be all about motivation. When motivated, she can do anything. The trick is finding the motivation.

It has been an adventure to figure out this girl. I have learned a lot along the way, and there is still a lot to learn. I love this girl to pieces- I love her adventurous attitude, her willingness to dive into seemingly crazy tasks, and to take big risks. She is super special and she is going to do a lot of great things in life. She, not a clown, is the true masterpiece.