Little Miss Evil Kenevil

As it turns out, my pretty pink princess is also pretty bad ass.  Gal laughs in the face of danger....a squealing, giggling, belly of a laugh.

We brought Madeline to the town fair on Friday night just like last spring.  A year ago, she was frightened of most of the rides, so we decided to start slow and headed toward the carousel.

I spied a pretty pink pony with roses decorating its mane, and pointed it out to Madeline.  I had visions of holding my girl steadily upon the back of that beautiful plastic steed, our faces frozen with the smiles of a mail-order catalog.  Yet, Madeline had different dreams.

"Oh, oh!  The bench!" she gushed.

The bench?!  Womp. Womp. Womp.

 "Are you sure?" I asked her.  "I'll hold you tight."  Nope, she insisted on the bench.

I climbed into the plain, red wooden "sleigh" complete with peeling paint as the other children and parents happily pounced on all the pretty ponies.

Each time we came around, Madeline waved happily at Eric and called out, "I'm on the bench, Dada!" like she had nabbed the coolest ride on the carousel.

There weren't many people waiting in line for the next round, so the operator gave us an extra long ride.  Madeline never lost her enthusiasm for the bench.  I just felt dizzy.

Things at the fair were off to a pretty slow start.  If she was frightened of the carousel, I didn't hold high hopes for any of the other attractions.

Imagine my surprise, therefore, when Eric marched her right onto the caterpillar roller coaster with nary a backward glance.  I nervously stood on the sidelines, waiting for her to cry out, but she didn't.  As the caterpillar dipped and twisted around every bend and hill, I caught glimpses of Madeline's wide-eyed smile.  

Next, Eric took her on the "crazy" bus.  She went on that last year and cried.  This year, she asked to go for a second round.

Then things really got crazy.  He brought her on the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Again, I stood aside anxiously, and again, I caught glimpses of her laughing face amid the blur of whirling lights.  When they finished the ride, Eric told me she had been singing "Ring Around the Rosy" the entire time.  

She even braved the Street Rally all by herself.  I've never seen her look so happy as she did from the back of that monster truck.  

I was pretty amazed by my daughter's bravery.  When I was seven, I cried on all the rides at Disney World.  If I even manage to get myself on a carnival ride these days, I spend most of my time looking for loose bolts.  Except for the carousel...that seems pretty safe.

The following day, Madeline amazed me again by gravitating toward the big kids at a birthday party.  There were several toddlers her own age, but she wanted to play with the older girls.

"Where are my kids?" she asked after taking a brief potty break.  "Where are my ladies?"  She raced right up to them and began playing.  The big kids weren't as sure about Madeline as she was about them.

Then tonight, the girl who has so far in her life refused to eat any form of meat except hotdog and taco, leaned over and snatched a piece of my steak.  I cut her some more, and she ate a decent portion.  Like a boss.

Even though Madeline insists on wearing a dress most days and wants anything pink and sparkly, don't let that fool you.  The girl has a daring side and a tough streak.

And to rid you of any doubt regarding the ballsiness of my little angel, she smiled up at me with a wicked grin tonight and said, "F-ing Mumma!"  It's not the first time she's said.

I could do without the last bit, but I'm loving the rest.  Go get 'em, Maddie Bear.