This is 6

Here we are. One-third of the way done with childhood. Six years old feels like a turning point. She's so much more aware of everything, and how we all fit into the bigger picture, and her role in it all (so now I really have to watch my mouth). But she's still a child, and so innocent to the harsh realities of the world. Although the other day she told me we should really have a compost.

For her birthday, we visited Great Wolf Lodge for the first time. I was expecting to be super traumatized by the whole experience, with everything being so...moist, and kids running around screaming everywhere, but it was actually so much fun! Pro tip: Go mid week. Trinity was a little too short to ride the biggest water slide, but luckily instead of quitters for parents, she's got a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. The Height Nazi put a yellow bracelet on her wrist, to indicate that she can't go down the slides alone and the Howling Tornado was off limits, so I whisper to Travis that we need a green bracelet. I make sure the guy is distracted and facing me, while Trav goes behind him and snags the right color. Once we get out onto the floor, the yellow bracelet comes off and the green one goes on. And guess which slide was her favorite? Of course the biggest most terrifying one that she was supposedly too short for. Before you start judging me for corrupt parenting, rest assured that she was only like half an inch too short and had no idea we were breaking any rules. Ok now you can judge.

A harsh reality I am currently dealing with is the fact that after 3 years of paying for a private French immersion school, she will not be going to the French immersion elementary school because we didn't "win the lottery." She's currently sitting at #19 on the waiting list, so the odds of getting her in are slim. All the hard work, and planning, and money, and it doesn't matter. When I told her that she will most likely be going to our local neighborhood school, she asked what language they spoke. When I told her English, she made a confused face and said, "But I already know English, what will I learn all day?" This could get interesting. I put her on the soccer team for the neighborhood school so when she starts school in the fall she'll already know some of the kids.

Travis and I always said that out of all the sports, we hope our kid doesnt like soccer, because neither of us like it or know anything about it. So of course she likes soccer, and now we get into it too. When your kid is running down the field kicking that soccer ball, it's a surge of adrenaline like no other. I'm usually on the sideline screaming like a fool trying to hold back my obscenities and threats of violence toward other children. If you think I'm bad, you haven't met my mother, who is way louder and more wiley than I am at these things. Poor Trinity is going to become so embarrassed in her older years.

The other day we were talking about how long you're in school for, and how many grades there are. Somehow she knew there were 12 grades, but when I asked what came after that, instead of saying "College" she said, "After that you go to the Husband Store and go shopping for a husband." Uhhhh not quite, but I suppose you can shop for one IN COLLEGE 😐. Please lord, let her seek secondary education and not define her worth by her husband, or lackthereof. Amen.


To follow in our parents' footsteps, we decided that every child should grow up with a boat, to make memories of summers out on the lake with friends and family, so we bought one! Trav thought we'd get an old fixer upper and that he'd somehow become the mechanic he's not, but I had other ideas. If we were doing this, I decided we were doing it right. It didn't take too much arm twisting to convince Travis that this boat was the right choice. Savings be damned! It doesn't have a name yet, but we've taken to calling it the banana hammock. I cannot wait for Summer. But first, it would be nice to see a touch of Spring. I've had about enough of the northwest.

Because we weren't busy enough, we also started Trinity in Jiu Jitsu. Her and Trav like to wrestle, and he really wants her to be good at it, and able to protect herself. This whole thing was his undertaking, so I just sat back and let him roll with it. It's at a weird time in the middle of the day, so it's rare that we are both able to make it, but it's fun to watch her, and she likes doing it. Trav gets super into it and telepathically wills her to do all the right things when she's grappling. Here's a live photo of him watching her.

Life is going by at 100 miles per hour. I blinked and somehow I have a 6 year old, and I have to keep reminding myself, she will remember this. She's old enough now to have memories of what her childhood is like, and I'm hoping that most of them aren't traumatic. If I'm being honest, if you asked her now what Mommy is like, she would probably say that I work a lot, and am always on my phone. I'm trying to do what I can about that, by taking a page out of her book and living in her moment, because I want to remember this too.

Now if only I could find something that makes me as happy as this balloon makes her.