"She's Not Just a Pretty Face"

Maddie-the-great is a pretty wonderful kid....everybody says so!  Not just her Grammy (that's me).  She was a beautiful baby, once she grew out of that early preemie thing.  At first, she was so fragile, and that's all we could focus on  But once she was beyond that time, the first thing you saw about her was how pretty she was.   She has a smile that can light up a room and she is very photogenic.... even her school pictures turn out beautifully.  Nobody ever looks good in a school photo!  Except our girl!

The fact that she is so pretty is not what strikes people the most about M-t-G.  Some of the things that she says just about knock us out.  She is a natural wit and has a great vocabulary....that combo makes her into one of the funniest kids I know.  It's not usually intentional, especially early on.  To wit:

Going back a few years to the time she was about 4 or so, the whole family had gone to one of the big malls to do some shopping.  While walking from one store to another we came upon a container asking for donations for some worthy charity or another.  It was about 3.5 feet high and round.  There was a sign over the top about the charity and the top was closed except for a round hole in the middle.  But it wasn't just a flat top.  Nope this one was shaped like an inverted cone, wide at the top and narrowing down to the hole that was about 2 in. in diameter.  The real attraction was that you started the coin at the top at the widest point, where it would spiral around and down to the bottom before dropping in. 

I doubt there is a kid alive that can resist dropping money into a slot!  And this kid was just as interested as every other kid.  As I recall, she very nicely asked for a coin she could drop in, which she proceeded to do.  She stood there watching as the coin went round and round, faster and faster.  We all stood there waiting for the coin to drop in so we could be on our way.  Down and down it went and finally dropped into the hole. 

As we started on our way, little M-t-G, turned to us and said, "It's like a toilet for coins!"  We, of course, laughed.  She, of course, got mad!  (Like I said, unintentional natural wit.)

Another example, fast forward about three years.  M-t-G decided she wanted to learn to play the violin.  So after serious discussions about practicing and commitment, mom and dad agreed.  She was really excited because she has always LOVED music!  And so she began.  I never really thought about the sequence of how one goes about learning how to play the violin.  We learned, however, that you start with the notes and the corresponding string and hand/finger placement and so on.  The first few lessons the notes are just plucked, almost like a guitar.  A necessary step when you think about it.

After the first 3 or 4 lessons, she still had not touched the bow.  I happened to be along with them when Maddie finally was allowed to pick up the bow and begin learning how to make the bow find the notes the way her fingers did.  She actually played her very first song, the ever popular, "Twinkle, Twinkle"!  That

day, after her lesson, as we were leaving, M-t-G was walking a fair distance ahead of Ratchlet and I as we came down the stairs.  As she turned the corner, we heard her say softly, "NOW I am a violinist!"  We didn't laugh until she was out the door.  We had learned our lesson!

And then there was Halloween when she was 7.  She wanted to be the Trojan Horse!!  Honest!  They had to really work at talking her out of it!!

There are other examples of delightful things she has said, the funniest of which I have already posted here:  http://mellodeemusings.blogspot.com/2009/11/against-all-odds_1208.html as part of the series on how M-t-G became a cancer survivor.  If you haven't read these postings, please do.  It's the story of two miracles.

I can't remember exactly how old she was when she told me some obscure fact about planets.  I asked her, "How do you KNOW these things??"  She looked me straight in the eye and she said matter-of-factly, "Well, Grammy, I'm just ...(pause)....very smart!"

Oh no,  "She's Not Just a Pretty Face".  Not by a long shot!