At one point, Kiera decided she wanted to be a firefighter when she grew up. She then decided she wanted to be a doctor and a nurse. Yes, that is correct. She wanted to be a doctor and a nurse at the same time.
She has considered being a policewoman or a graphic designer. Currently, she wants to be a vegetarian. We later found out she meant a veterinarian. I am not sure what Kiera will be when she grows up but I can tell you that the child could be a director.
A couple of nights ago, Aaron, Grandmommy, Kiera, and I were playing in the swimming pool. It started out slightly relaxing. There was a gentle breeze, the sun was shining and the water was close to perfect… if you didn’t mind the occasional splashes from the dive bombing of a certain 5-year old, you could almost imagine you were at the beach.
Then suddenly, Kiera grabbed her diving rings and swam to Grandmommy. “Here!” She waved them in Grandmommy’s face. “These are for you and here is what you will say,” she continued to explain as she leaned into Grandmommy to whisper in her ear.
Aaron and I glanced at each other trying to hide our smiles. But before either of us could take advantage of the quiet moment, she was finished directing Grandmommy and headed for me.
“Mommy!” She yelled before diving under the water to swim to where I was standing. Surfacing, she pushed her hair out of her face, “Mommy!”“Yes, baby!” I replied. She pulled me down to her level so she could whisper in my ear.
“You are going to be the girl,” she began whispering then pointed to Aaron. “That man will rescue you from the bully.”
Then she took off to her next culprit… She dove under water and surfaced in front of Aaron and began whispering in his ear. The next thing we know she is climbing the pool ladder.
As she stood on one of the pool rungs, she began waving her arms as she spoke, “O.K., we are doing a play!” Then she began to sing.
As she began to sing about the sun and flowers, Grandmommy raised the colored diving rings over her head and waved them in the air.
“No! No. No,” Kiera said, climbing down from the ladder and swimming over to Grandmommy. She pointed to the yellow ring. “That one is the sun. Raise it when I say sun. The other colored ones are the stars. Wait until I say stars.”
She swam back to the ladder and climbed back to her position. “Go!” She exclaimed.
We all tried to hide our laughter as she began the song again. Thankfully, Grandmommy got her part right this time. Her song continued on from the stars and sun to a part about a girl. Sadly, I did not realize this was my cue to start walking and dancing.
“Mommy!” Kiera yelled. “That is your part!”
I apologized to the tyrannical director that was my child. “Go!” she yelled.
Grandmommy piped up at that moment. “Take 3… Action!”
After several more cuts and takes we were beginning to understand our parts… considering we didn’t really have a lot of details about our characters to start with.
Aaron had the hardest time. His first directions were to beat up the bully that would bother me. What he didn’t know, until after several takes was that he was also supposed to create the rain.
After grumbling that he didn’t have any lines, Director Kiera fired him from the play. I’m guessing she had a hard time replacing him because shortly after he was back in the play and making it rain.
I love this child and I have to say that even though sometimes I cringe, I still love the unexpected things that come out of her mouth. Frequently, I wonder where she came up with them.
At one point, she had climbed down the ladder to give her Daddy direction. Disgruntled with Aaron’s performance, she climbed back up the ladder and said, “Come here, massive dog!”
Now, there is no coming back from that. I barely managed to hold in the laughter that threatened to explode. I looked at my mother who was turning her head as her body shook with laughter. At that point, I stood and turned my back to the pool, laid my head on the side and laughed until tears rolled down my face.
Finally, we regained enough composure to hear Aaron ask through his barely concealed laughter, “Where did you hear that?”
“I don’t know,” she responded before jumping back to the play.
Mom and I snickered at Aaron for a few minutes, quietly mouthing the words “massive dog” to him when Kiera’s back was turned.
Several minutes later, our taunting of Aaron caught up with me. Standing on the ladder, Kiera motioned to Aaron and said, “Come here, massive dog…” She then motioned to me and said, “and massive girl.”
“Woah, woah, woah!” I immediately responded as Mom and Aaron burst out laughing. “Let’s drop the massive,” I said trying to keep a straight face.
It wasn’t long after that we convinced her we should use the diving rings for their intended purpose and that we were done being in a play.
Oh, this child! I haven’t questioned her to see if she really knows the meaning of massive. I don’t think I want to know.
Director, doctor, nurse, policewoman, firefighter, veterinarian, the options are endless. But whatever she finally chooses, I know she will do amazing things.
Rowonna McNeely is a graphic artist for Willie’s T’s Screenprint & Embroidery. She is a mother of a five-year-old girl and step mother of two adult girls. Her crazy life includes a dog, Sloane and psychotic cat, Gracie. Both females. She is married to her prince, who is outnumbered by the opposite gender.
