Yup, you hit the nail on the head there, Number lady! Guess what, I've found myself a real authentic DBer to follow, my D9! My W and I joke about how she is the happiest kid in the world and I don't think we're far off. This kid can take anything and turn it around to make something good out of it. I've been watching her lately. Just today W and oldest D were going shopping for clothes etc AND Halloween stuff. D9 was very unhappy as she is a competitive athlete and trains 12 hours per week, today is training day. After pouting for a few minutes she approached my W and asked her to only buy a couple of Halloween things and wait do the rest another time. She then hopped into the kitchen and asked to help cook (she loves cooking) and was back to her old self.This kid took action and then let it go. She was still missing the good time but she turned it around for herself. In the car she was counting For Sale signs on the way to the gym, "I counted 5 yesterday, I'm gonna try and find 7 today", no boring car ride for her! She sets goals for herself. The other night she was so excited because she had finished a book quickly. We all told her that was great and then she disappeared. I found her upstairs making an award ribbon for herself to put on her door, it said "Championship Reader". She validates herself, doesn't rely on everyone else to make her feel good. She celebrates her successes. Last week she did a class presentation, got a C plus on the project and a A plus on the presentation. She got marked down for a small thing in the project. Older sister said "That's ridiculous for such a small thing", D9 replied "That's OK, when I add them together it's a B plus and I'm happy with that" and off she went. She worked long and hard on that project and when it didn't get the mark she wanted she looked for the bright spot. She didn't cry, pout and scream about how unfair it was. This kid is a DB star. We can all learn from her. Look at your kids folks, they can teach you a thing or two about dealing with the unfairness of life. Who says the older you get, the smarter you get. She focuses on what's there, not what's missing. So my new strategy is to always think "what would my D do?" P.S. Sorry Number lady, I think I might have hi-jacked your thread. I meant well!
