The Burkett Bundle: Karyssa

I'll post about Karyssa next, since she is (by two minutes) the next youngest.

Aside from about 5 minutes getting dressed some mornings and occasionally starting fights or having a bad reaction to Kyran starting fights, Karyssa is practically a perfect child.

She is still a child, so I don't have unrealistic expectations of her, but for a child who loves villians as much as she does, she sure never acts up in school or around other adults.

Yes, that is her obsession...villains. Especially Disney villians. She says she believes everyone deserves a second chance. She has said that for a few years now, and just this past year watched Descendants for the the first time. That movie definitely resonated with her, but for some reason, I think Maleficent is still her favorite character in it.

She is kind to others, though. And so, so kind to her sister. I'm an older sister, and Karyssa makes me look like Maleficent compared to the older sister that she is. When she gets prizes from school, she will always pick one for Gemma. Even if it's the only one she gets. A couple of weeks ago, she missed her bi-weekly "symbol party" and didn't get her candy. Her best friend, Hannah, saved her two tootsie roll pops, and she gave one each to Kyran and Gemma.

Her generosity has no end.

She also loves playing with Gemma. At this point, Gemma is getting old enough to act out storylines with their dolls, so they can play for quite some time together.

She is also getting better at the Wii, and likes to play with Kyran to show interest in what he likes.

She and her BFF have been in the same class since first grade, and they are so close. Sure, they have disagreements, but they always take the time to apologize and talk things out. Hannah is very much like Karyssa with her kindness and maturity. The first time I saw them together was about a week into first grade. They were walking into the cafeteria with their bookbags on their backs, just talking and laughing, and I had an immediate flash to them as teenagers. I'm not sure how I knew, but they are certainly amazing friends. (And I love her mom as much as Karyssa loves Hannah!)

Speaking of teenagers, I already see so many flashes of her teenage years. In both good and not-so-good ways. She is a force when she makes up her mind about something. I'm working on always listening to her and being honest with her. I'm praying that will help us stay close through the years to come.

At school, she is almost perfect. In three and a half years, she has never been on yellow, lost a Dojo point or this year, a symbol. Not only is she well behaved, but she helps keep other kids in line too. For most of the first part of the year, her teacher had her sit at a table with two of the less well-behaved children, and she did a pretty good job of keeping them in line. Her teachers love her because she is well-behaved and always looking for ways to help.

So far, she is a straight-A student, and she works hard to study and learn her materials. This year, she has a 106 average in science, so we're going to encourage her to explore that some more!

She loves art, sewing, designing, and pretty much everything creative. She says she wants to be a designer when she grows up, and wants to be an apprentice to a set or costume designer for one of Kyran's plays when she gets a little older. She was in a play with him last summer, but decided she's more of a behind-the-scenes person.

She loves gymnastics and is getting stronger every day. She does handstands everywhere she can, and is working on her kickover. She is getting taller and thinner, so the pants that were tight on her in the waist and way too long two years ago fit her perfectly now (some are even too big in the waist). She was concerned about being too thin, so I let her know that as long as she is active and making good eating choices, she has nothing to worry about.

Occasionally, kids at school will say not-so-nice things to her, but overall she is well liked, and some of the bullies are actually a little scared of her. She's never mean, but she is firm and will stick up for others, and that type of confidence seems to intimidate a few of her classmates. I'm hoping that will stay with her.

She is picky about her clothes, but knows when to pick her battles. She likes to pick out what she wears, so I try to give her options that work for both of us. She's not a big fan of jeans, but will wear them to school most days. She's most comfortable in a t-shirt and sweats or workout pants.

We went shopping for her dress for the Daddy-Daughter dance last weekend, and she just seemed so grown up the whole shopping trip. As with years before, we go into the dressing room with 10+ dresses. Each one looks gorgeous on her, but when she finally puts on THE dress, it always takes my breath away. This year was no exception. She likes to keep it a surprise from Jason, so that she sees the look on his face when she's all ready for him to pick her up that night. I just hope this experience every year will help me not be such a basketcase when it's time for her to pick out her wedding dress.

She still loves Brownies and it is really such a good fitting activity for her personality. She gets to do crafts and service projects and learns new things all of the time. She also loves selling Girl Scout cookies!

She is very good with people, and we had this exchange the other morning:
Karyssa: “Mommy said I would be a good psychologist because I’m good at getting people to talk.”
Jason (with a smug, teasing smile): “Can you get me to talk?”
Karyssa (with a sweet but smug smile): “I love you, Daddy.”
Me: