The Tomboy Princess

Once upon a time, there was a princess. She was a lovely young lady, and every bit of a princess as you would expect. Pink was her favorite color. Her hair cascaded all the way down her back, since she insisted it be long. Dresses were her clothing option of choice. At every turn, she would pick flowers and celebrate all things lovely. She danced around the room and sang all the time and pranced wherever she went. Never had there been a more princessy princess in all these many years.

In the same land, there was a tomboy. She was as rough and tumble as any boy. From an early age, she had absolutely no fear in asking for exactly what she wanted. As she would stroll around the land, she would bend down and play in the dirt and grab acorns to stuff into her pockets. Nary a puddle avoided her stomping. When someone would dare cross her path, she would just as soon slug them as look at them. All of her clothes bore the telltale signs of a mud lover - stains on the knees and sleeves. Never had there been a more tomboyish tomboy.

The amazing story was that the princess and the tomboy were the same girl. And today is her birthday. She turned six. As I have said in posts when she turned four and three, Natalie is an awesome little girl. She's funny and cool and smart. I am really impressed at the young lady she is becoming. As we were saying tonight at her party, there are times that I can't believe she is already six. And then there are times when I can't believe she is only six. It seems like just yesterday that she was even born. But then, I think about how she hangs out with Josiah all the time and seems so much older.

This past fall, we were able to enroll the older kids in Tallahassee's city-

run gymnastics program. Natalie was in the Kindergarten class. It was always humorous as the girls would walk from one end of the gym to the other. Nat towered over her class - about a head taller than any other little girl. She wasn't hampered by that. The teachers were surprised just how flexible she was. And she loved the flipping and being girly. And then on the way home, she would tear off a burp that I couldn't believe came from a female of any age.

I love the dichotomy that is Nat. She desperately wants to learn to read better. She is constantly wanting to spell words and gets upset if she doesn't have homework. But then she is colossally lazy when it comes to cleaning. Like, it is impressive just how committed she is in her refusal to work. She fell asleep last night on Josiah's shoulder watching him play his Nintendo DS. But then she'll flip out that he plays it too much. Some days she will hug and kiss you, the next try to kung fu kick you.

Yesterday she was playing out in the backyard with the boys, chasing the football. By the time she got done, her clothes were all dirty - thanks to tackling her brothers. Today, on her birthday, she got her nails done, got jewelry and nail stuff and baking stuff and a pink unicorn. And that is probably the best two days she could have had. Beating the stuffing out of her brothers and then putting the stuffing into a unicorn. And that is the story of the Tomboy Princess. And we all lived happily ever after.