Energy Tab Charli

Dear Charli is such an energy tab. She’s always been high-energy, a deep thinker and extremely sensitive. Being sensitive isn’t easy when you’re young and it’s not always easy to be the best parent to a sensitive child. But, given the right nurturing (and a good dose of luck!) she’ll grow to use her sensitivity as a strength.

As she approaches five (end of June) she is already beginning to show signs of the deeply caring, emphatic person she is becoming. When she was two we never would have dreamed she would be the incredibly polite, insightful and understanding child she is today. She wasn’t easy to parent through ‘the twos’! Now her younger sister is going through ‘the twos’ and at times she really tries Charli’s patience. We are incredibly proud of how Charli manages her frustration and, most of the time, deals with Sophie’s wind-ups with humour, great patience and intelligence.

At weekends and in the evenings Dan and I often take Charli for some ‘one-on-one’ time, which she hugely appreciates.

Our family is feeling so strong and Charli’s good behaviour and eagerness to do right helps tremendously in the dynamics.

(The photographs below were taken last weekend; when we went ‘Croc Biking on Wellington’s waterfront. The family ‘portrait’ – ha, ha, is after I returned from a jog one evening – to find Dan curled up on the sofa with his two beautiful daughters.)

Aside from seeing her personality grow in leaps and bounds, we’ve also been delighted to observe Charli’s increasing love of drawing and writing. She is showing a keen interest in learning to read and will spend hours with a book; learning on the computer or practicing her writing skills. The other night she worked for an hour on a card for friends living overseas. It was past her regular bed-time, but she was so much in ‘the zone’ and being so well behaved we really didn’t see the value in cutting her work short. She was late to Kindi the next morning; but in the big scheme of things this really didn’t matter. She’s got the most incredible concentration span – often working alone for two hours on a project – with incredible determination and a will to succeed. Both Dan and I prefer working into the small hours of the night – and she has perhaps inherited this trait from us.

In daylight hours she is at her happiest when in nature. She loves to run, climb, dance and swim. She has incredible energy and brilliant self-awareness of her own strength and physical capabilities. We are so proud of you Charli! One day, not long from now, you’ll be able to read this for yourself. In the meantime, we’ll just keep telling you, ‘We love you and well done for being you – never lose sight of who you really are, as you’re just perfect the way God made you.’.