Though my daughter M- is still only 2, her communication abilities are far enough advanced that we're able to get an even better idea than genetics has given us of her future temperament and predispositions.
Chief among the latter is most certainly not, it seems, willing cooperation with her peers, any more than those peers will be likely to enjoy the credit they're due for their contributions to groups including Miss M-.
This is a girl who, some time after hearing me idly singing, "We're following the leader, the leader, the leader..." one day, began marching about the house very seriously chanting, "Be. The. LEA-der! / Be. The. LEA-der!"
I haven't yet had any of my patented Extra-Boring Heart-to-Heart Talks with her about this theme in her life, but just in the past couple of weeks, she's crafted gems like these, the only ones I happened to write down before I forgot:
M- (after putting on her own shoe): I did teamwork!!
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Me (to a now-smiling D- and M-, after they had been loudly fighting over who would lay where at story time): So, did you guys find a way to cooperate?
M- (proudly singing it out over her brother's more subdued response): I did!!
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Can't wait till 5-and-under softball! Though maybe football is more her speed... her teammates can either crush the selfishness out of her until she's just cautiously individualistic, or strategically piss her off each game before handing her the ball and getting out of the way.
Based on our experiences already, this plan shouldn't be too hard to execute, and it would be devastatingly effective.
How else can one harness convulsive rage and a steadfast maverick streak to unleash his or her full potential? Politics? Ultimate Fighting? Competitive eating? I'm not sure which is the least undignified, but then there's very little dignity in the contorted faces she wears while trying to inflict pain on those who displease her, in her smiling-monkey-faced footie pajamas.
She can transition easily from that into cramming the faces of her enemies, as carved into pie crusts, down her food chute at rates never before seen, thanks to that dash of OCD I contributed to her mother's genetic material.
Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket... she'll miraculously stay as lean and mean as her Japanese opponents, and with her Threats and Intimidation skills, she'll win such an assortment of global endorsement/protection deals that she'll be able to support her father in the luxurious lifestyle to which he only wishes he could become accustomed.
I can't quite reconcile what's best for her with what's best for me... either way, I'm prepared for quite a lot of notes to be sent home from kindergarten.
19 October 2009
If you first smash it beyond recognition, there is ME in team
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7 comments:
Mine is the opposite, you look at him cross eyed and he will break down. What career path does he need?
Best kindergarten strategy: Drop her off day one and introduce yourself to the teacher by saying: No habla Ingles!
Too Funny, at least you have time to prepare for her as a teenager. :)
we've got one in just about every group...so I am screwed...but maybe an ultimate fighting politician would suit her. Great post!!!
Your daughter may be onto something. From an anagramatic point of view, 'TEAM' is a very aggressive word. You've got 'AT ME' (her persistence to get what she wants, "EAT 'M" (traditional football cheer inciting violence) and 'MEAT' (what your daughter's opponentents are destined to become),
that's one tough cookie
I'm glad she didn't meet my son when we were in Chicago. He's a bleeder.
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