As parents we sometimes marvel at the various things we see in our children. Sometimes we go so far as to question if we brought the correct child home from the hospital.
It is a possibility that M-E is not my child because I was not the best mother. I did not demand that she be in my presence for the entire time I was in the hospital. I looked at that time as sort of a spa experience and sent her to the nursery to play with the other children while I lunched (spinach salad in the cafeteria) Soaked ( spitz bath) and napped.
Oh, yes back to the point. M-E has beautiful long fingers and toes (from her father) a quick mind and great wit ( from me), stubbornness (from her father) determination (from me). You get the picture.
The one trait that comes from her Mexican Heritage is what the Lanham's affectionately call the "Cha Cha" gene. If you take my daughter to a store and there is a red sequin on a dress she will find it. Well her father does not seem to understand that this is a trait he passed on to her and tries to blame it on me AND then denies her the right to explore that side of her fashion sense. Late nun would be his prefered style for her daughters.
He has on occation tried to focus the behavior in a positive bent. When she was about 3, he brought home some dresses from a friend. There were three or four in the bag. All very fancy, lots of ruffles, velvet and satin. There was one dress we all called the White Fluffy Dress. She loved it the most.
It was covered with lace and ruffles and ruffled lace. It has lace sewn all over it and is shiny white satin. She was thrilled. She wore it all the time. She slept in it, she went to school in it. She cried when she had to wear something else. I was happy to find that it could be washed. It is an alien dress, it is non-destructively. It is an amazing item.
She wore it for years. When Sophie Selleck was 3 or 4 we passed it on to her. The dress has gone through the rigors of more wear and tear. She lived in for a number of years and only reluctantly at age 9, decided to let Isabel "borrow" the dress.
Today it becomes the property of Isabel. It will be the first true paternity test we have. We all suspect that Isabel and M-E are the progeny of Johnny but the reaction to the presentation of the dress will be the final arbiter of that fact. I am going to dig a bit and see if I can find a picture of M-E in her dress and Sophie in the dress. We will let you decide.
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