Don’t compare yourself to ANYONE. Your uniqueness is what makes you incomparable!

Today was open house at the school. 
It was chaotic and very busy, but I briefly met all of Badger’s teachers. 
Mr. R remembered Heron, and Ms. M remembered Heron and Raven. 
I reminded them that Badger is NOT her brothers. 

She won’t be an honor roll student, she won’t be a drama llama, and she sure won’t be debating you-and that’s not a bad thing. 
You can pretty much expect a much quieter year with her.

With the boys being so close in age, they had the same teachers within a very short space of time. 
First, they got Peacock—the clown who would do anything for a laugh. 
Then they got Raven, who would argue with you—I mean, the boy would spend a whole class period insisting that black was white and up was down. 
Then you got Heron, who was a mixture of both his brothers—and chattered all the time.

Every year, when I went to open house, I was almost afraid to meet the teachers. 
I never quite knew what I was going to hear. 
I will say, though, that all three of the boys maintained an A-B Honor Roll the entire eight years they were at school. 
Which is another difference between them and Badger. 
Badger struggles in school—she learns differently than her brothers did. 
I strongly suspect she may be dyslexic, though I can't get her tested. 
I also think she may have a learning disability, though again, I can't get her tested. 
Both Cowboy and I have learning differences, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she did too. 
As long as the teachers don’t expect her to be a copy of her brothers, things will be OK.

We came home, and she and Heron skated all evening, up until bedtime.
 For now, she's pretty dedicated to improving her skills and learning new tricks. 
It's good exercise for her, provided she doesn't end up breaking something again.

Raven has gone to AH's house and said not to expect him back for a few days. 
I don’t see why they don’t just move in together. 
It appears that the construction job may be permanent—now watch me jinx that. 
They asked him to come with them to a job in K, so to me that sounds promising. 
As long as he’s working there, he’s bringing home a good check and could easily support a live-in girlfriend and baby.

I'm sorry, but Badger and I are still coveting the boys’ bedrooms. 
We both need our space. 
I love my boys to pieces, and they'll always have a home here—but for the past 12 years, Badger’s had her own bed squeezed into the corner of our bedroom. 
It’s time she had a space of her own, something beyond the corner she’s been tucked into all this time.

I think Cowboy is feeling the space crunch too. 
He’s eyeing this abandoned house out on the corner. 
From what I understand, there are property line issues, and the county or state or some official refuses to allow a sewer line to be run to the house. 
The family that did live there used porta-potties. 
The guy can’t sell the house, and he can’t rent the house—who wants to use an outhouse?—so it just sits there. 
Well, Cowboy said if he had money and the guy would sell just the house, he’d like to move it over, and he’d make Badger a bedroom and add a bathroom on. 
You know, he’d somehow attach it to this house and then get to rearranging. 
I've never been inside, but it has to have at least four usable rooms. 
I sure wish we had money and the fellow would sell. 
That would increase footage tremendously. 
Pipe dreams.

Well, I’m going to get off of here and go curl up and watch Mrs. Doubtfire. 
Badger’s been wanting to see it forever, and On Demand finally brought it on. 
She's already watched it once, but she loves it and is wanting another go-round. 
I think it may be my favorite Robin Williams movie.