Force her into becoming a Pats fan; Check.

So I was talking to a friend who was lamenting about
how her nine-year-old is already feeling the pangs of getting "in" with the "in crowd." That's right, she's nine. She seems to have handled it gracefully (the daughter, not my friend, she's a mess) but just hearing the story of how this sweet girl didn't get invited to a party but her friend did frankly scared the bageebers out of me. I believe it was around that time when I realized I'm not simply taking care of a baby anymore; I'm attempting to raising a strong, confident woman. This is when it got dicey. Honestly, I was sort of hoping I would fully become one before I had to raise one. So now, the questions about her future and who she will become have been hitting me fast and furious lately at seemingly innocuous times. I will innocently be sitting on the couch thinking about what she will be for Halloween, then BAM! Halloween?! Who cares about Halloween?? What will she be for life? Will she step out her college graduation and move onto medical school or will she hop the nearest Greyhound to "find herself" with a band of vagabonds. Will she marry a nice guy or find someone who won't settle down until he gets his music career out of the garage? Will she cook like her father or ummm. . . not so much like her mother. So I figure the only thing you can do is model behavior you would like her to emulate. This is so not as easy as it sounds as Zoe has become a little mirror, a true reflection of everything I am. Oy. Ok, we'll start small. Wear a Patriots t-shirt on opening day hopefully eliminating at least one downfall of her future (I truly believe Mike would sooner have her come home one day announcing she's just joined a cult and could we lend her the membership fees then proclaim her allegiance to any New York team). I think I *maybe* need to curb my "enthusiasm" when I get cut off in traffic. Maybe I could travel to more exotic places, write a novel, or learn to play the cello in the hopes that she will see this and become well-rounded. Or maybe the answer is to just do the best you can and then the hell with it knowing in the end Zoe will follow her own path hopefully with whatever lessons you manged to eek out as my own parents, accounts both, did when I announced I would be declaring English *gasp* as my college major and are only now, through this blog, seeing the fruits of their labor (read: checkbook). For now, let's just welcome the newest Patriots fan, Zoe Fuller.