Routine and Peace

Jasmine has never been my easy child.
It also means she adds a tremendous amount of sparkle to life.
And she broke us in. We thought we had life all figured out, and then we had Jasmine.
She made us figure things out all over again. And we love her for it. (especially now that she's 6 and no longer keeping us from sleeping)
It's pretty amusing that, for some reason, I thought we'd gotten all the wrinkles worked out and that life would start cruising. I should have known that teaching her would force a new level of flexibility out of me!

But it's actually been an easier transition than I expected. Other than a few "what did I get myself into??" moments the first two weeks, things are going well.
One of those awesome side effects I didn't anticipate, but love, is that she's gotten easier-going since we started doing school daily.
And a new one just hit me today. I made up a couple badges for her to "help mommy." I didn't have anything particular in mind, but knew that I wanted something positive to come from this.
And it has! She wanted to do it today (Monday morning!!!) so she helped me make the egg salad sandwiches. Then this afternoon, I actually invited her to help me make the cake for dinner tonight.
You have to realize what a huge thing that is for me. I usually like to do things myself. It's faster, less crowded, and I don't have to think everything through quite as extensively. But I knew she could help and welcomed her help!
I have to admit, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. For her to start resisting school again, or to just be cranky in general, but it really is looking like we've turned a corner and are going down a new, untrodden, peaceful, happy road! And I'm very thankful for that!

Love that sparkle, but love this peaceful, happy, easy-going girl I'm suddenly seeing. I hope she sticks around!