I love this kid

I don't know if you ever have days like this, but this was a day that just affirmed how much I love my kid's personality. Some days really seem to grab me with what a great kid she is, how curious and thoughtful and just thoroughly delightful to be around. We went on a walk tonight after dinner, delivering some fruit salad to my mom and meandering around town because the weather was nice. I adore just hanging out like that, discussing inconsequential tidbits. I realize that some day in the not-too-distant future, hanging out with Mom is not going to be on her list of life's pleasures. I hope that I can stave that off for a while. I've never done this parenting thing before; I'm hoping that my kid will have a short rebellious period because I truly delight in her company and personality.

Monday night we took the dog to the vet. Somehow she had gotten injured, probably out at the shop, but that part is kind of up in the air. She had a gaping wound in her chest, about half the size of the palm of my hand, where we could see her muscles. It wasn't bleeding really, just open to her insides. So Stuart called a friend whose wife is a vet and checked to see if she would examine Muddy. Yes, on a Monday night at 8:30. Bless her heart, she said yes, so we all loaded up and headed over. L was so excited to go meet a "girl vet". Anyway, long story short, L got to help put stitches in the dog. That vet is AMAZING, a wonderful person - once L told her that she was interested in being a vet, too, she took L under her wing. She let her sterilize tools, explained every detail of what she was doing, let her help shave Muddy's fur in that area, offered to let her help clip off the dead skin around the wound (L turned that down in a hurry), and let her help put in the stitches and clip them. It was like L's own little glimpse of heaven on earth. She delighted in watching Muddy come out of her sedation and in listening to the vet talk about dog care. The vet showed L how dogs have a third eyelid, let her feel some of Muddy's bone ridges and her teeth while she was sedated, showed her parts of the ear canal, etc, etc. When we finally loaded up the L and the dog to go home, she collapsed against her seat and said "I DEFINITELY want to be a vet." I guess an experience like that will convert you to one side or the other!