We weren’t prepared for Karin.
I joke sometimes that if we’d had her first, she would have been an only child. Anders always gets upset when I say that, though. We had it so easy with Martin when he was a baby, that we thought we had the baby thing aced. Karin pulled the rug out from under our parenting feet. She hit the ground running and her motto is still full speed ahead.
I wrote this about her when she was 2 years old:
Karin makes me so upset because she screams bloody murder when she doesn’t get her way, because she doesn’t listen, because she’s stubborn as a mule, because she says no no no constantly, because she doesn’t sleep through the night, because she always does the opposite of what she’s asked or told, because she doesn’t obey instantly (haha!), because she’s so violent, and because she screams “mamamamammamamama” all the time! I’m sure I can think of more.
Karin also makes my heart melt because she has the sweetest smile, because she talks with the cutest lisp, because she is fearless and brave, because she gives good hugs, because she lights up and comes running when she sees me, because she loves to draw and read and sing, because she is so smart and responds so fast, because she makes the most hilarious faces, because she looks like an angel when she IS sleeping, because she always wants to sit in MY lap! I’m sure I can think of more.
My mom thinks she was put on this earth to teach me patience. If so, she’s fighting a losing battle by inches. I’ll be dragged to patience kicking and screaming. The thing is that no matter how mad we get at her, she invariably makes us laugh. She’s just such a CARD! Her volume control is always on high and her little body practically radiates energy. Wish I could bottle me some o’ that. 🙂
She and my sister’s daughter were apparently switched at birth, because my sister is the tomboy in MY family, and Karin takes after her with a vengeance. She likes speedy shoes, and dressing up as a policeman, and playing crash with cars, and zooming around on her little kick-scooter. She’s the leader of the gang of little boys in the neighborhood and gives as good as she gets. At the beginning of last summer, she tried banging the training wheels off her bicycle with a hammer because she wanted to be able to GO FAST, mama!
She’s always covered in bandages, currently she’s sporting one across her cheek where she was scratched by a bush. She has no fear, this kid. It’s a little scary to behold, as a parent. But I can be happy that we’ve succeeded without knowing how in creating a fearless, independent, stubborn individual who stands up for herself and knows her own mind.
She’ll rule the world one day, just you wait.
