she's the one

Who is the best and the brightest? The small but sometimes surly light of my life? Yes, the answer is Sophie, my pretend child.

She found out today that she and one of her best friends (a very, very nice girl who is welcome at my house anytime, unlike some other friends) are sharing first chair for violin. Which means she is the best (or rather one of the two best) in the school, which is made up of all the 5th and 6th graders in the whole city. Did you hear me say "whole city"?

"Are you so proud of me?" as one of my children at school asked today when she showed me her sweater she'd buttoned all by herself.

Yes.

Yes, I am so, so proud. So much so I could nearly burst. But not quite so proud as Sophie herself seems, which is as it should be.