I love you to death Allison, but you can be a stinker sometimes. You have the tenacity, will power, and grit of a pit bull that just got bested by a chihuahua in front of his friends and his girlfriend. I love those qualities in you, they will be very helpful to you in your life. However, helping you learn to control, understand, and use those qualities in a positive way is not easy and as you well know, leaves you and your dad and I at our wits end sometimes. I am not perfect and know I make mistakes and don’t always help you in the best way. I apologize for that to you a lot, and I am sure I will owe you many more apologies in your life. Sometimes when we are in the thick of a situation with you we just have to laugh so we don’t scream or cry. When you see this it obviously infuriates you even more but we hope someday you will understand. We are not laughing at you, or making fun of you. We are laughing at the situation and our own frustration. So, I have decided to write down some of your more ‘stick it to my mom’ reactions and incidents so someday when you are older and understand we can laugh together.
Control is a big deal for you. You do not like to be told what to do or do something simply because everyone else did it. In church on Sundays when they make new callings or ask for sustaining votes, then any opposing votes. You ALWAYS oppose. If you are feeling a little more aggressive you will raise your hand high up in the air and clearly let anyone looking know you oppose. When you are a little less ornery it might be a quick half hand raise. I have even seen you just raise one finger, but nine out of ten times you do something. Then look at your dad and I like – “What are you going to do about it.”
Another one from church recently was planning your baptism. We sat down to pick who you wanted to do what for your baptism. We had to take a break and come back to it later because you were determined that you would only have one witness instead of two. “There is only one of me, I don’t need two people to watch me go under the water. I can watch myself.”
I have received many notes from you on my pillow when I go to bed at night. Sometimes it is a nice but more often than not it is chewing me out for some injustice you feel you had to endure throughout your day. This isn’t really a nasty one but it made me chuckle when I found it. If you notice, the diagonal ‘Chories Suck’ in purple letters. Very creative.
One of the earliest moments I remember of you deliberately being ornery was when you were about three. I knew your dad and I were going to have our hands full. I was chopping up raw onions for dinner and you came over and said you wanted to eat it. I told you it wouldn’t be very good but you wouldn’t let it go. I told you if you really wanted to take a bite you could but I didn’t recommend it. You grabbed the biggest piece you could find and shoved it in your mouth. It took about a half a chew before you face showed exactly what I expected, you did not like it. I said you could go spit it out because I could tell you didn’t like it. You glared at me, finished chewing, swallowed and said you did like it and grabbed another one and shoved it in your mouth. Then you stormed off, probably to go spit it out without any witnesses.
The past few months you have developed a habit that infuriates your dad and I. When someone is talking to you (anyone-but mostly your dad and I) and you don’t like what they are saying you start humming or making some obnoxious noise over them. AAAAHHHH! It seems like when I set my resolve to be more patient and not let your actions get to me, you up your game.
You have grown up a lot the past few months though and there is much more happiness than grumpiness from you for the most part. Whatever your mood though I love you tons girly!