Number ONE daughter! And the CLEANING GENE!

Okay...I was conflicted on how to title this post because a couple of interesting things have happened this week.

First off, (for those of you who do not know this)I am privileged to the be the youngest of 4 girls. This week two of my oldest sisters came to visit to help with the kids, cook, clean my garage, hang up pictures and towel racks etc. (the last part actually was handled by my sweet brother in law Tim). So, this is the first time that my new kids have met two of my 3 sisters. One night at dinner Grace starts a conversation with Debbie (my oldest and admittedly 'bossier' sister). Grace says "you number one?" Debbie says "Yes I am number one." (sorry DEBBIE but I have to say that it had to be obvious just due to the fact that i very happily stepped aside to give Debbie her space in the kitchen)... and HAPPY is an understatement. I LOVE HAVING HER IN MY HOUSE and KITCHEN. I LOVE having Donna there as well. Donna also thinks she is bossy...but I would like to humbly submit that I believe the bossiness diminishes dramatically with each number. So daughter number 4 (which is me) could not possibly be as bossy as daughter number 1. So, even though Grace is not technically number one daughter in her new family , she very much has all the traits of number one daughter. This is due to the fact that she is the number one daughter to her African siblings. So, she continues on in the conversation with taking great pride in the fact that she too is number one. "I am number one too". Then she wants to know which sister is next. Donna is number 2. Denise number 3. And that would make me number 4...BINGO !THE LEAST BOSSY DAUGHTER.

This brings me to my favorite trait of my new number one daughter (although technically she is now number two and Sam is number one). It would appear that contrary to the fact that I didn't specifically pray for this blessing ,God has filled a need in my life. Both of my genetically connected children appear to have the cleaning gene missing...like myself. But Grace thrives on cleaning and is somewhat iron fisted about cleaning with her younger sister Ella (or daughter number 2 or 3 depending how you look at it). Ella may also have the cleaning gene missing but is forced to enjoy it and grab a cloth or broom or suffer the wrath of Grace. It would appear that Grace has a preponderance of cleaning DNA in her genes. This morning (SATURDAY) she woke me up early ecstatic in realizing she would get to stay home from school and clean...I actually had to encourage her to go back to sleep...but she would not have any of that. She attempted to clean my car with windex (not the windows the body of the car) only to realize it wasn't working. She did clean the mud room and the rest of the house....she actually squeals with delight while accomplishing the task of cleaning. So, I say THANK YOU GOD. Each day she makes her bed and if the other girls don't make their beds she gives them a really hard time. She will clean Jared's bed and sometimes Andrews. She also sometimes won't even sleep in her bed but will place a blanket on top so she can just keep it clean. She is not OCD as her drawers are very mixmatched....but just wanted to share the blessings of the new and other number one daughter.