A glimpse of the future

I got it. I know now what Katie is going to be when she grows up. It is oh-so-clear. She is going to be (insert drum roll here) a defense lawyer. The kind you call when you did the crime and don't want to do the time. This is for 2 reasons.
First, she will completely understand that you didn't really mean to do it, but you couldn't help yourself. It was there. I wanted it. So I took it. Empathy. She will know just what you are saying, and feeling. I couldn't help myself.
Second, the girl is a master at finding and exploiting loop holes.
Exhibit one-sometime time during potty training around the age of 2. She is sitting on the potty and keeps saying over and over "poop poop poop poopy poopy poop....." When I asked her what she was doing, she replied-I'm saying potty words. That's not very nice I reminded her, to which she promptly rebutted with "but I'm in the bathroom, it's OK to say potty words there!"
Well, not what I meant, but yes, I am sure that at least once Mark, me and probably her preschool teachers had told her that potty words only belong in the bathroom. Well that was where she was trying to keep them. Maybe she was trying to get it all out in an appropriate place?
Exhibit two-Monday night at our house. The girls were saying good bye to Auntie with their normal running jumping squeezy hugs. Well I don't like them to get too worked up before bed time so I enforced the "no running" rule that is so often forgotten in our house. Now, I am no speedwalking expert, but I would say Katie mastered the art of hip swinging, arm moving speed walking in about 0.56 nanoseconds. She looked just like those people in the Olympics-you know how you just get a glimpse and have to change the channel because it is so overwhelmingly uncomfortable to watch? That HAS to hurt and how does the hip not dislocate mid step? They must be bionic or double jointed or something-it is just not natural. Well, now that you have the visual, you know what Katie looked like that night, speedwalking over for a big squeeze hug. You gotta hand it to her-the girl knows how to make it work in her favor.
I know I must sound like she is just the Anti-Kristin these days, and at times she is, but really, I am jealous. I have never been comfortable standing up for myself to anyone. Ever. Although she is making life difficult for me now, I truly feel that she will be whatever she wants when she grows up, and will make her happiness happen. So often we sit back and wait for what we want, or complain that a change would be too hard. Not Katie. She'll see something and just go for it-nothing will get in her way-especially those silly things called rules.
How cool is that?
You go girl.
Please, just keep it legal.
Kristin