The dancing diva at her first performance, age 5
Here is the one with many names… Dancing Diva, Mini-Mom, Bonus Baby, Ladybug and my personal favorite Ciara Bell. She arrived 8 years after the middle child and being the only girl in the entire family she was a welcome surprise.
Now it’s a good thing she has many nicknames because no one correctly pronounces her name – including one of her grandmothers. The name is Ciara (KEER ah) which is the gaelic spelling for Kira. Most people call her Sierra or Kara and having a name that is often mispronounced I know her pain. She can thank her father for that when she gets older. Ironically his name is Bob… no one mispronounces that.
Currently, Ciara is a precocious 8-year old, third grader that loves to dance and sing. Thus the name Dancing Diva. She dances with a local jazz dance company and entertains us the other times singing Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani and Miley Cyrus.
Being the youngest and 12 years behind the oldest does not stop her from taking the role of Mom’s apprentice. She will put her brothers in their place in a heartbeat and since the boys were raised almost exclusively by a woman, they abide by her commands. Which is odd to see an 8-year old tell a 20-year old to clean up his room and he complies!
Raising a daughter after surviving the rambunctious antics of boys was quite an adjustment for me. Boys are rather easy to direct and pretty much take you at face value. Girls on the other hand have an innate second sense and know immediately when you are making things up. I can’t get anything past her radar. So I might as well avoid the clever tricks that worked with the boys and just go straight to “Because I told you to”.
