Dear Lucy, Age 6.

Dear Lucy,
Today you are 6. It seems a little age for me because you feel so grown up already. You are the firstborn, the only daughter and with those roles you have become so responsible and caring. You have always been independent, but now with that you are capable. You make Dad and I smile with the way you negotiate and reason. You have a very clever little brain in that head of yours, and sometimes I think you would cope quite well without parents which makes me feel a bit redundant and I scramble for things I can still teach you, or show you that you don't know already. There isn't much. Your Dad is busy trying to teach you  negative numbers and decimals, I have a feeling you will get a grasp on that before I do.

You are in your second year of school now and still loving it.  You also still have the biggest crush on your school Principal. You look forward to Fridays because that is his day on duty and a highlight of your day is walking the field with him. I was worried about this getting a little out of hand and you getting silly with it, so talked to you about being sensible. That he was just a man, a lovely man like Daddy but just a man and not to go all giggly.  You told me that you really are trying but that every time you see him you feel the corners of your mouth going up into a smile and just can't stop smiling even though you try not to.



You are still cautious but are getting better at taking risks and giving things a go. By the time you are 7 I know that you would have mastered going down a pole, swimming a lap and riding a two wheeler. All you need now is practise.

You have lost your first 2 teeth these last last 6 months and your face is changing as your adult teeth grow in. You are loosing the chubby little girl face and every now and then I get glimpses of you as a teenager. Especially when you twist my finger into straightening your hair for you. I hate doing it because you instantly look so much older.

At 6 you aren't that much into dolls, you gave all your Barbies away to your cousin.  You like dresses but only if they are practical and don't itch. To me you are the perfect amount of girly, You like looking pretty but any more than 2 minutes spent trying to achieve that is a waste of valuable time. You still love drawing and now that you know so many words you spend hours in your room writing stories to go with your pictures.  I've caught you playing 'teachers' quite a lot when you have your door shut and think we can't hear you.

You talk like an adult which makes me laugh. The day of your school field trip I mentioned to you as I rushed around getting you ready for bed "I'm glad you don't have homework tonight Luc," and you sighed and said "oh you and I both!" How did you even learn to use I instead of me? It is those sorts of grammar lessons I was hoping to teach you but you already know it.

The other week I had brought a little plastic tub of giant jaffas which was high up in the pantry but in view of you. You asked for one and I said no, that they were only for treats. You then told me that they had already been opened. Impressed with your detective skills I confessed that "yes, I had opened them last night and had one." You glanced up at them again and said with one eyebrow raised "I think you had more than one didn't you Mama?"

At age 6 you are a bit obsessed with Lollies. It is all you ever plan on spending your pocket money on and you work out exactly just how many lolly pops you could buy with your coins, and for you its all about value for money. Why would you buy just one chocolate bar when you could buy 10 lollipops for the same amount?

Unlike your brother who lets everybody know what he is feeling, you are harder to read. I don't have to discipline you much at all anymore but I wonder if that's because you just get on and keep out of my way. There are days where I have to seek you out, realising that you have tucked yourself up in your room for hours. I know this is part of your personality needing alone time, I need it too but sometimes I get the feeling like you just put up with the rest of us because you have to.

Because you are mostly outwardly good, it is hard for me to see what is going on in your little heart, and it's in teaching you the matters of the heart which are my biggest burden. More than anything Lucy I want you to have a heart that loves the Lord, seeks justice, loves mercy. For your heart to be soft, open and teachable.

I know that I am often preoccupied with your brothers or housework but believe me when I tell you that my absolute favourite time of the day is crawling into bed beside you each night, the chores done, your brothers in bed asleep and I can give you my undivided attention. I love listening to you chat about your day, read me your reading book, listening to you pray and then twirling your gorgeous locks around my fingers as you fall asleep. (Possibly why your hair is so knotty when you wake up).

Happy Birthday Lucy Goosy. We love you one million times one billion and 3 hundred.