Anyone that knows Jettie, knows exactly what I mean when I say Jettie is a “special child.” Now I am sure I just got a few eye rolls, and there are a few of you thinking, “well every mom thinks their kid is special.” So just bear with me.

Jettie is my strong-willed, smart, independent child that can give one of those “looks” better than me. She has curly blonde hair and green eyes and is a little ball of energy. Jettie is a real life sour patch kid. Now, I am sure none of this sounds different than a lot of kids that you know. So what makes her so special?

It all started when she overheard the doctor say that he was going to induce me at 35 weeks due to my low fluid levels. Well, she wasn’t having any of that and made her appearance 3 days early in just 4 short hours of labor; she has been doing things her way ever since.

Last week she asked me to pop her some popcorn. I was in the middle of putting my makeup on, so I told her I would as soon as I finished. She acknowledged what I said and ran back into the living room. I finished my makeup with in the next 5 minutes and headed to the kitchen to pop her popcorn, and, to my surprise, I found her sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in hand. “Where did you get that?” I asked. To which she quickly replied, “I made it Momma!” I walked over to the counter and found the plastic wrapping and an empty popcorn bag sitting. As I stood in shock at what my 2 year old had done, I thought “what will she be capable when she is 22?”

Jettie is my kid that hid her poop in my craft closet. She is the kid that sharpied my freshly painted bedroom walls and was proud of her artistic ability. She is the kid that makes her own bowl of cereal for breakfast. She is my kid that refuses to go to sleep and plays in her room until 2 am, then wakes up at 7. She is me in a 2 year olds body.

Parenting Jettie is hard. She challenges every part of me some days. I can’t count how many time I have felt like I’m messing up as a mom. I have to continuously remind myself that strong-willed, independent children often grow into adults who become world leaders, world shapers, and world changers, and I pray everyday that God will grant me the patience and ability to parent her without taming her incredible spirit.

THE END…

#loveyoulikepeaches