I love Lucy

Yesterday was "Family Fun Night" at the girls' school, so we reluctantly (we hate mingling) packed up and headed on over to have some pizza and awkward conversation.

I am so glad that we did.

They were playing music in the gym, and Claire almost immediately took up residence on the dance floor with her best friend. Not long after, Lucy joined her and it was one of those sights that I will remember for the rest of my life. Claire and Lucy danced. And danced. And danced. While other kids came and went, joined in and wandered away, the two of them stuck together and boogied like there was no tomorrow. Every other kid out there was easily twice the size of Lucy, but she couldn't have cared less. She did the funky chicken, she shook her hips and she hopped around without a care in the world. At one point, she decided to wriggle around on the floor, and I watched as Claire positioned herself over her crazy baby sister to keep the other kids from stepping on her. Lucy, however, was just lost in her own world. When a conga-line formed Abbie, who had joined in with Katie, was stiff and awkward, whispering (loudly) to Chris, "I don't want to touch that boy" (in front of her.) She was nervous around all those big kids. Not Lucy. Claire and Lucy joined up, and Lucy funky-chickened her way around the gym without a care in the world.

Later, when we went out to gather the older girls from the playground, Lucy began to pester me to let her go down the playground slide.

"I don't know," I told her, eying the chaos in the dark, "There are a lot of big kids there, Lucy, and they're being pretty crazy."

Lucy patted my shoulder, "Don't worry, " she said. "I strong, Momu."

(Momu is her new nickname for me. I can't get her to stop using it. It rhymes with "Shamu.")

There's nothing more to say about this kid, really. "I strong" she says. And she should know: nobody is more confident in their place in the world than my little Lu.