Die Young

Today is Ke$ha Barbie's 19th birthday...we have a lot of family birthdays in November...

Now you might look at that title and think: "Why would a mother title her blog with something like "Die Young" when she is writing about her daughter?"

The answer is at the bottom of the blog...as always...

Ke$ha Barbie came into this world with a lot of Pitocin and screaming.

The screaming was me...she actually emerged quite quietly...big blue eyes open with a look that said "why the hell did you disturb me for this?"

Over the years I have gotten that look a lot...

She literally was the most beautiful thing I ever saw...and she still is...although there are times I don't think she is all that lovely...

I've blogged before about how hard it is to be the mother of a teenage daughter...

But now that she is so far away from me at college...

yeah, it's still hard to be the mother of a teenage daughter...

But I do miss her...I miss her a lot...I miss her so much that it literally hurts.

I have never NOT been with her on her birthday.

When she turned 18 last year I didn't really consider it might be one of the last times I spend her birthday with her.

She took the SAT that day...and grumbled about what a pain in the neck it was...

Well that pain in the neck got her into a very fine college so I just shut up and let her grumble.  And she did well on the test and the rest is history...she had a test today and I asked her if that was better than the SAT and her answer was "hell yes!"...

Ke$ha Barbie has her father's smarts and my creativity.  A very dangerous combination.  She can creatively outsmart us all.  And she does it often.

But I'm not going to complain about her today...or at least not for the rest of this blog...

I wanted her badly.  I lost 2 babies before I was able to carry one to term and she was my gift...my prize...my trophy.  She was/is beautiful and smart and has talents I could never dream of possessing.

Her artwork is amazing.  It always has been.

My mother taught her to draw when she was little...2 maybe...and she started out by teaching her to draw a mouse.  They sat at my mother's antique secretary desk and on a little notepad my mother drew a very simple mouse.

Ke$ha Barbie copied it.

Perfectly...

I know that sounds silly that a child that was not quite 3 could draw so well but she was born with that talent.

From the time she was barely able to speak she could recognize shapes and knew things by color.

When she was 18 months old I could hold up a Barney tape and she could tell me which one it was...just from the color of the writing on the edge of the tape.

She knew her letters before her second birthday.

She knew what a trapezoid was before her second birthday...much to my sister Susan's horror.  I'm still not sure whether Susan was worried we had trained her like a seal or if it was that she herself wasn't sure what a trapezoid was (frankly I didn't either...my ex knew and taught her).  She could also tell you (if you drew it) what a pentagon, octagon, and parallelogram was...

Geometric shapes have always been easy for her...and they influence her artwork greatly.

She finds comfort in triangles...

Yeah, that is strange...

She used to place things in what she calls "colorbetical order".  Her Pre-K teacher was sorta blown out of the water by that one...She would organize things along a color spectrum...

She even says that colors have sounds to her and tastes.

She doesn't like the taste of red food much...

Again all of this influences her artwork.

One day I will get her permission to post some of it...it really is quite remarkable and some of it is breathtaking.

She doesn't really photograph people...that's not her thing.  And she doesn't like to draw them either.

But she can perfectly draw body parts...and animals...

Most of her photography is very architectural or geometric.  She's not one to take a photo of a beautiful vista.  She'd rather photograph a parking garage.

The best thing about her photography---I can't wait to see what she does next...

So lest you think I think my child is too brilliant, I shall share a story with you that is sure to make you laugh...and my dear friend who is part of this story should love the memory as well...

When Ke$ha Barbie was about 3 or so we were visiting at a friend's house.  My friend, who I have referred to as Glamazon in this blog (as she is very tall and as gorgeous as any model...in fact she should have been), and I were in the kitchen of their condo enjoying a visit.  Ke$ha Barbie and Glamazon's daughter who I shall call Glamette (because she is tall and as gorgeous as her pretty mama) were playing in the bedroom area.  Glamazon's husband was "in charge" of the girls but I think the poor man may have been unaware of that fact.

Suddenly Mr. Glamazon bellows from the bedroom for us to come there "RIGHT AWAY"...

We walk in to the bedroom to see our girls with soaking wet hair.

It seems they had decided to wash their hair...

IN THE TOILET...

(as an aside here...what is it with my family and washing with inappropriate bathroom fixtures?)

The girls wet their hair and then decided to FLUSH THE TOILET as a way to rinse it.

Frankly I think it was pretty ingenious if it hadn't been so gross...

Once we finally finished drying our tears (from laughing so hard) we threw the girls into the tub and gave them a proper bath...

and then I think we went and had a glass of wine...

In any case that story always makes me laugh and it totally defines my child...

There is logic (the swirling action of the toilet would make a good way to rinse) but it is sometimes overshadowed by foolery (the toilet? really?  how about the tub?)...

She's brilliant but not perfect...

She's smart as a whip but a total idiot sometimes...

She can do something right yet make a mess of it at the same time...

But in the end she is without a doubt the most perfect and beautiful thing I have ever done.

She's smarter than me...

She's more beautiful than me...

She is more talented than me...

And she is awesome...and I'm so proud to be her mother.

At 11:58 tonight she will have graced my life with her amazing self for exactly 19 years...they have flown by in a minute...

I can't wait to see what the rest of her life brings...

Happy Birthday Ke$ha Barbie...you are my treasure...even if you make me crazy sometimes...

Inspiration Song: "Die Young" by...who else? KE$HA!!!!!!  It's Ke$ha's new song...fun and catchy and how could I NOT use a Ke$ha song?  And nooooo...I don't think my daughter will "die young"...I hope she lives to be very very very very old...but the song is really about having fun and enjoying yourself...and that, is EXACTLY what I wish for my daughter on her birthday...

Bye Darlings...the only name I ever wanted was "Mom" and 19 years ago my beautiful daughter made that possible...and she and her brother are the best legacy I could ever have...I'm so blessed and I know all of you out there are too...now go hug that teenage daughter that makes you insane...I wish mine was here so I could...