She's Got it

My daughter, the fruit of my womb, is so much like me, but so different in a way that invokes jealousy in my heart.  She is turning out to be one of the luckiest people I know.  The girl wins things all of the time.

I've always wanted to be lucky.  But after years of never winning a raffle, a prize, an award or nothin', I accepted my fate to be one of the unluckiest people to walk the earth.  My senior year in high school, the PTA hosted a Grad Night where over 500 prizes were had to be won.  The ads said, "Everyone's a winner at Grad Night."  Everyone but, yup, me.  After the night was over I walked out of there empty-handed as my friends struggled to carry out VCRs, TVs, money, and boxes of prizes.

It was then that I adopted the motto and mindset that there was no such thing as luck.  Just blessings and good honest work.  Either of which would get you the good things in life.  That philosophy has served me well over the years of my life.  If ever I bought tickets for a charity raffle, I viewed it as a donation, not as a chance to win something great.  If ever I wanted something, I worked hard to get it.  Including my sweet husband (who I constantly tell his heart is the best and only things I've ever won ... but we all know I worked darn hard for it).

But I must admit that there was always a seed, small albeit, of hope that maybe, maybe this time, my luck would be different and I would actually win.  The first time in my life that I've ever won a drawing was a few months ago at the scrapbook night.  And the thrill of winning was worth the wait.  So worth it, just for a small pack of papers and a few embellishments.

So yesterday, as Miss A popped into the car with a baggie full of orange and black spider rings clutched in her hand, I had to ask, "Did you win those today?"  

"Yep!" she replied.  "We had a jar where we had to guess how many rings were in it.  I guessed 39.  There was 45," she explained as she began to pass out enough rings to her brothers to cover every single one of the 10 fingers.  

This is just added to the numerous Bingo or Wordo prizes she's won, the times she's been called to the office for winning to school-wide drawing, or the in-class drawings she's won.  The first week her teacher pulled a name out of a hat for the Star Student of the Week?  Miss A.  And the time her teacher drew name for a free t-shirt?  Miss A.  She wins so often that typically she shares with her friends, because the girl understands that she only needs so many trips to the prize box in one day.

Maybe dealing with being lucky will be a challenge for her.  Maybe she'll expect too much or feel entitled.  But I doubt it.  She's too much of a gentle heart.  And she has been blessed with my coordination and grace (or the lack of it) to balance out whatever luck she has in her little pinky and keep her humble.

Miss A: Cute and covered in dirt after taking a tumble

down a dirt hill this weekend at the Apple Farm.