Gracie Girl, Flower Child

These pictures are a little montage of Gracie through the years.

One of my first entries of this blog (in 2005?) was about my free spirit, Grace. Grace is a groovy girl. When she dances, it reminds me of my experience at a Grateful Dead concert watching those fluttering, hippy women with bangles on their ankles and butterflies in their hair. She lets the music move her rather than moving to the music.

I went through a MAJOR hippy phase in high school. I wanted to get a dancing bear tattoo on my ankle (thank GOD I never followed through with it!),wore birkenstocks, went veggie (which I am again as of recently), and wore sundresses. There are very few pictures of me from my senior year when I'm not flashing a peace sign. Later, I discovered The Descendents and fell in love with punk rock. Apparantly, the flower child inside my heart decided not to go away quietly, and instead made a reappearance in my darling Grace.

I adore it when Grace comes out dressed for school in the morning. The ensembles she puts together are creative, original, and do NOT take into account want any other kid might think. Grace will start trends rather than follow them. She LOVES Hannah Montanna, so she started wearing her hair long and straight like Hannah's. She also noticed that Hannah likes layering outfits, so Grace often comes out in the morning with pants on under a skirt, pink cowgirl boots, and a funky hat.

Tonight, Grace said, "Mama, I wish I wore glasses. I look REALLY good in glasses. I'd want pink ones."

She discos. She boogies. She shimmies. She does the worm. She hopscotches, jumpropes, spins and smiles and sings...not a thread of self-conciousness or worry. I hope she never questions who she is and conforms to "normal."

Man, I adore her!