Bloody Persistence

When my 10-year-old daughter was just a toddler, the pediatrician told me to buy the book, “The Strong Willed Child.” He was on to something: my daughter is a force to be reckoned with. (Or is it a force not to be reckoned with? Either way, I’m in trouble.)

My girl is, to say the least, persistent. An average conversation with her goes something like this:

“Mom, can I have a friend over Friday night?” She might ask.

“I’ll have to think about that,” I’d reply.

“Can (insert name of friend here) spend the night Friday?” She’d ask again, like a lawyer re-phrasing the question to a witness.

“Honey, I need to check our schedule. We’ll see.” I’d say, in that tone of voice that implies I’ve already answered this question.

“Mom, how about tonight? Can she spend the night tonight?” She’d ask, attempting to find a loop-hole in the system.

“Baby, we’ll figure it out. Not tonight. Please don’t ask again.” I’d retort.

This pretty much goes on with anything she wants. Candy? Repeated questioning. Watching TV? Over and over again. Staying up late? Question followed by question followed by question. That is, until I started saying the response, “asked and answered.”

Anyway, it’s this persistence that leads to today’s post. Yesterday afternoon, I picked her and her brother up from the babysitter’s house after school. My daughter got in the car and with a surprised voice said, “Mom! I have a loose tooth!” She instantly started wiggling it. She was clearly irritated by the feeling of it being loose. She twisted and pushed at it. By the time we reached our house (after a 20 minute detour to the Farmer’s Market) she had literally yanked the tooth from her head. It was bloody and gross.  The Tooth Fairy came last night. He/she left her a dollar. I learned my lesson after last time.

All I can think is man, this girl is one persistent child! But, while that persistence may be slightly bothersome at times as a mom, it also makes me really excited about her future. It’s that kind of giving 100% – of never-give-up-ness – of devoted spirit that does well in life. From bargaining for a sleepover to ratcheting a loose tooth out before it’s ready to be yanked to maybe one day landing her dream job, I’m going to count that character trait as a blessing in my baby girl.
What traits do your kids have that could be seen as annoying now but could seriously pay off for them later in life?