The Real Cherish

Cherish has always been a girly-girl (she even rides her scooter in a dress and sandals). Being in preschool has helped her to be okay with not being dressed up from the moment her feet hit the floor until bedtime. In school, she must wear close-toed shoes, so she has had to transition from sandals and high heels throughout the day to wearing sneakers and dress shoes for a couple of hours each school day. Also, she is not allowed to wear jewelry in school, and that initially was a real struggle for her. She had to remind herself daily: “You’re not allowed to wear jewelry in class.” (She would say this to herself over and over again while getting ready in the morning—so as to remind herself to take off the jewelry she had just put on while getting ready.)

I try to help the “dress down” school days by putting bows in her hair and letting her continue to wear dresses—whether or not they get paint and/or mud on them. J

Up and immediately dressed for school:

Girly-girl really enjoys temporary tattoos. She generously shares them with Andrew and knows how to put them on him by herself.

She enjoys the school treasure box, and if she is not getting a temporary tattoo out of the box, she is getting a lollipop. Strangely enough, she rarely eats the lollipops, and so they sit and decorate our kitchen counters.

She now likes her dairy-free cheese since Andrew likes it. J

She is a secret practical-jokester (like putting marbles in our shoes so we get a surprise the next morning).

Her hair is long—about to her waist. She wants to grow it down to her ankles. (She saw a lady on our cruise last year with hair down to her ankles, and Cherish has wanted to do the same ever since. However, the lady was wearing hair extensions.)

She is a snuggle bunny! She always wants to cuddle.

She loves books and can sit and listen to chapter books until my jaw gets tired.

She secretly does chores without telling me. (I only know because when I find a job finished I question her about it.) One morning, while I was getting Andrew dressed for the day, I asked Cherish to set the table for breakfast—being that the dishwasher contained clean dishes. I later heard a lot of clanging, and it turned out that Cherish was putting the silverware away. I asked why she was doing that when all she needed to do was set the table. She said, “Well, I figured since I touched the silverware tray, I might as well empty it….” Sweet!

She has an OCD tendency, though: She likes to count how high each stack for knives, forks, spoons…are so that they can all be equal. She’ll even empty out the tray to start over, just to get them all in equal stacks! Cracks. me. up!

She writes me love notes. ♥

She is in love with Andrew and runs to tell me things I miss (like when he kisses her or if he does something funny). She is constantly saying how cute he is and how much she loves him.

She and Andrew hold hands while simply walking around the house.

For bedtime prayers, she pretty much every night thanks God that “Andrew came to live with us” and that he is “now in our family", and she thanks Him that "a family is always a family.”

She tells on herself for doing wrong. Always. She confesses to things I would never know. Ever. Her heart is so tender. It. is. precious!

Her. heart. is. so. tender. SO tender! Mommy has a lot to learn from her.

Our Cherish is a real sweetie! Her heart is gentle, honest, and caring. We see the hand of God on her.