It’s Sunday evening. After a day of apple picking and fun at the apple orchard, we are all gathered at my mother-in-law’s house to celebrate my birthday a week early (which I keep forgetting). Our delicious Thanksgiving-style dinner has digested enough that most of us now have room for the apple and peach pies that are being served as my birthday dessert.
I have just survived the Birthday song (being the center of attention is not really my thing) and blown out my candle. As always, this accomplishment is followed by a round of applause – one of The Munchkin’s favorite things.
She loves to clap and cheer, and having observed all of this, the little leader in her decides that it must continue. She isn’t certain of the reason for the clapping, but she is determined to have it go on.
Standing in the center of the room, surrounded by everyone, she lifts her arms in celebration and shouts, “Yaaaay,” her little hands clapping away in front of her.
We all respond with a resounding clap and cheer.
Her smile widens and she does it again.
“Yaaaaay,” she shouts.
“Hooray,” we all reply and clap back.
She is looking around the room at everyone, pleased that she has the attention of every person in the house.
She cheers once again. And once again, we all cheer and clap back.
This time, she pauses. She knows she has all of us captivated and wants to keep her hold on everyone. I watch her little face as she processes what is happening. She is concentrating. Deciding. She has our attention. Now what can she do to keep it going? My little entertainer.
Then, like a story teller or singer leading a crowd in some sort of response activity, she leans forward, grinning wide at her audience and says, “Hi!”
Laughter escapes from her audience, and we all respond appropriately with a “hi,” or our own.
She looks at her daddy. She looks at me. Her smile grows even bigger. Success! She is eating up every second of this. We all are.
She throws her hands up and cheers again. After we follow her cheer with our own she proceeds with another, “Hi!”
This continues for a little while, everyone in the house following the lead of this 18-month-old crowd pleaser.
The Hubs and I aren’t certain exactly where this boldness comes from. We are both more reserved and tend to prefer not to be in the spotlight. But wherever it came from, one thing is certain: The Munchkin knows how to work a room.
What I’m not sure she grasps yet is just how special it is to everyone she entertains. It’s more than just a cute toddler showing off. It’s contagious happiness. We all delighted in her moment. Whatever stresses may have been in the back of our minds while she was cheering and greeting us disappeared. And the memory of it was a gift we all have to treasure long after the clapping ended that evening.
My little entertainer – sharer of smiles.
