She’s My Favorite
14 is a unicorn
I have four kids. Five if you count the one who isn’t here on earth. They are 16, 14, 5, (3), and 2. 14 is my favorite. I’m going to happily own that right now.
It’s not because she’s easy or reflects the parts of me that make me feel successful as a parent. It’s not because I don’t have to worry about her or because she is super fun to be with all the time. It’s just because she is herself. And she’s my favorite.
She has always been. When she was born I can remember looking into her eyes and she was so utterly aware of the world around her. It was as if she were a grown woman in a baby’s body. She stared right into my eyes just a few minutes after a five hour induced labor and she just knew things. She knew me. Like really knew me. She just blinked and stared and blinked and stared.
There is just something about 14 that makes her captivating and my favorite child. Her mere presence makes the energy around her shift. I think she is a magical unicorn of a human being.
She is a pain in the ass sometimes. Has gotten caught stealing and using AI to cheat at school. She has had more accidents than any of my other children and that has really racked up the medical bills. 14 can be pretty emotional and is a total slob — like disgusting food in her room for weeks slob. She farts on me and makes fun of me and leaves a mess all over the house. But she’s still my favorite.
Her grades are okay as far as the world’s standard of grades go. She works really hard to get Bs. 14 is pretty creative and is also a sick soccer player despite her sheer laziness during her downtime. She can say jerky things and throw teenage tantrums but she’s still my favorite kid.
Don’t get me wrong — I love all of my children. Having a favorite doesn’t mean I favor her. It doesn’t mean I love the others any less. It just means that I’m keeping it real and being honest with the world. I think a lot of parents have favorites but they feel like admitting that would be a downfall. I don’t really care what a lot of people do or think.
14 has been through the wringer. She has PTSD from her brothers sudden death — among other traumas — and she has anxiety — maybe from her parents’ genes or just the world in general. Who knows, right? She has a spirit about her though. A true inner magic amazingneas that just glows out into the world and makes people feel seen and loved.
To be completely honest, I aspire to be more like 14 every single day of my life. Despite that fact that she is thirty years younger than me, I try my hardest to emulate the way she navigates the world. I look up to her.
I thank the universe for each of my children but man I really thank the universe for 14. Damn she’s incredible.
✍ — Published by DR Rawson — The Possibilist at Dancing Elephant Press. Click here for guidelines to post click here.
