Thursday, June 25, 2009

still getting to know her

Ellis is full of life. She is, as I call her, the super-silliest. And she has the greatest laugh. She draws people in and they can't resist talking to her. The most surprising of whom was the brooding, rocker teenager at a Wal-Mart somewhere between Seattle & Portland.
Once you know Ellis, she is a total & complete charmer. That last trip to Seattle, I could sense the darkness looming overhead as Ellis & I boarded the plane and walked down the isle. By the time we had landed, she had won over everyone within a two row radius, including the perpetually-annoyed looking fellow sitting behind us. But, to strangers, this is more likely the look you'll be met with. Little Miss Serious. Ellis' standard m.o. is to check you out for about 15 minutes, and once she decides she likes you, she turns all cute, and is all, Look at me! Hey! See all the really cute things I can do??
Since we frequently have short interactions with people, I always wondered how she would react to those who fall into the "under 15 minute" category. Will she be trustful to a fault or will she be a good judge of character? Will she sense when people are weird and it's okay to ignore them? I know it's my job to teach her not to take candy from strangers & not to get into the van to see the puppy, but what if someone is able to convince her otherwise? (I realize with each passing day that I have much to be paranoid about when it comes to my daughter). Bottom line is, will she know when to back away.

Today I got my answer. We went to Safeway after work, and since we had just picked her up from my mom's, I didn't realize how tired she was until we got into the store. Poor thing had dark circles under her eyes. I'm trying to hurry through my list as well as the remember the things not on my list that I knew we needed, she's pulling on her seat belt, indicating that SHE WOULD LIKE TO GO HOME NOW, and would you believe I didn't even forget anything?

By the time we get to the checkout, she's fighting to keep her eyes open, which I'm trying to explain to the checker who keeps asking how she's doing. She's of course not responding because A, she's exhausted, and B, he was inside his 15 minute window. I am glad she's not responding because C, he's a weirdo.

He's trying to high-five her, still asking her how she's doing, referring to himself as grandpa (whoa, buddy), and while we're waiting for a price check on strawberry jam, he starts waving around the Pirate's Booty going pirate booty, pi-ret booty, pirate boo-tay. I'm thinking, Dude, if my kid, who up until now has been behaving like an angel, has a meltdown because she's tired & you're waving her favorite snack around in her face? So help me.....

And this is the really good part. The part you've been waiting for. He tries to high-five her again, and then a low-five because she won't budge, and then she actually scrunched her face at him & pushed his hand away. She DOES know when people are weird! I was thrilled.
As we walked away from the check stand, I concurred with her that he was indeed, very weird, and didn't he overstep his boundaries. On the way home, she chattered a bit from the backseat of the car, and about halfway into our 4 minute drive, she was completely crashed out.

Maybe now I can worry about one less thing.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

oh that is so great & cute! I love it. Of course she is smart and charming like that - she comes from good stock as my Maw would say : )

Sherry Goodloe said...

Good morning Tracy - I couldn't find an e-mail address for you, so I'm going to answer your question here ok?

I decided to stay with my Bind-it-All. My friend Robin showed me how it works (I was missing a step!), so I'm all set now! I can keep money in my pocket now *hee hee*.

Jo said...

Oh Tracy, your daughter is absolutely beautiful.

I really appreciate the comment you left on my blog today. It really helps to know that other people really do understand what you are going through. I read your comment and got a bit teary-eyed.

How are YOU doing? Does the fact that you have a plan of attack help things? I found that it does help me. If you ever want to chat, let me know. I'll give you my gmail address. (Can't post here because my email addy is my full name).

BTW, I had a boyfriend who lived in Alaska before I met my husband and I went to visit there. I loved it! I spent a week in Fairbanks. Someday I hope to be able to take my family to AK.

Sherrie Soltis said...

I'm so glad your blogging again! Its great to see some updated pics of Ellis and hear about the quirky things you run into in Juneau. Love the cards to by the way...very creative!! Thanks for the update!

Jaye @ canadian-mom.ca said...

Wow, what a sweetheart!

Kara said...

Smart AND cute! Those boys better watch out! I hope she maintains discernment with the boys like she does with the weirdo checkout man!!!

Miranda said...

I know this is a older post but I wanted to say "Adorable!" My baby boy, who's not so baby now, always knows when creepy people are around. I saw a comment from you on Dooce and had to check you out. I really like your blog!
Miranda

http://www.doadw.blogspot.com