there is a moment every single day when i stand there staring at my darling little girl while she throws an ungodly fit about one thing or another and i think, "what is this creature i see before me? and what poison has seeped into her brains, causing her to lose all sight of reality, logic and consequence? who has made off with her understanding of how easy it is just to agree, acquiesce, accept?

and i breathe before i yell at her again.

and then later i am able to realize that the stubbornness that kicks my ass daily--the very trait that i loathe about her right now--this is the thing, the very thing, that will illuminate her strength to the world around her. she'll be a beacon of power.

and oh, how she shines her mad, mad light these days.