Eden will drive you NUTSO with all of her imaginative desires. She sells candy canes in the winter, raffle tickets in the fall, popsicles in the summer and loves to put on rock concerts in our garage. She advertises for each event, writes songs and expects the world to attend with little fear of rejection. She never. stops. dreaming.
Love it and hate it. I am tired.
#1 As she and I were at the local grocery store, QFC one day, the cashier informed her of a coloring contest that she could enter for a $50 gift card. Once again, the flames of delight lit up in Eden's eyes and we went home with 3 grocery sacks to practice on.
After several rough drafts due to my perfectionist advice, she finally nailed it. Having been an advertising and marketing major, I kept giving her different ideas to clean it up, make it pop and appeal to the masses. We were only allowed 3 colors and it had to be religion neutral. Finally Eden came to me with her 3rd draft, with a look of exhaustion on her face, asked "How's this mom?" For the first time, my face lit up and I exclaimed, "Eden! That's it!!" She was so relieved.
That evening, I delivered the precious package to QFC with little hope since the cashier on duty took it with a confused look and I figured we would never hear from them again.
5 weeks later a letter from QFC headquarters arrived in the mailbox and I opened it with nervous but speedy fingers. Eden wasn't home from school yet but I was unable to wait. Walking with a friend, I exclaimed, "She WON!" and told her of Eden's dedicated endeavor.
This next part is the part I will always regret. As Eden approached me in the driveway, I held out the envelope and she looked at it, then me, then it again. Her eyes asked if it was good news but I was tight lipped. As she unfolded the paper news and began to read, her reaction was one for the books. She yelped, jumped up and chanted over and over, I won, I won, I won. Her voice got gradually higher and my smile, wider and wider. Oh, how I wish I had had my camera on me to record such a precious event. That is my regret.
Out fell a $50 gift card and the accomplished dreams of a 9 year old. Each store picked a winner in each age group but there would only be 1 over all winner to have their drawing featured on the store's grocery bags for the 2012 holiday season. With 67 stores in the state, someone else was awarded that honor. It didn't matter, Eden conquered the world that day.
#2 Eden participated in the school's reflections program last year with a drawing of outer space and didn't do too well. It broke her heart as she doesn't handle loss well. This year, in my opinion, her drawing still needed more practice but she was impatient and wanted her first draft to be on canvas and to be done. The theme was 'magic of the moment' but as the awards night approached, I was fearful of another evening ending in tears so I let Rob take her this time. Much to my surprise, Eden came home with the excellence award (runner up) and a medal. She was happier and I couldn't be happier as a mother afraid of having to comfort a child.
Yeah for Eden for two artistic wins this month!! It was an incredible self esteem boost for her!
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