Taryn

By Tammy Favaro, Elk, WA

Ever since Taryn was a baby, strangers have stopped us to say how beautiful she is. Her curly blonde hair and thick black eyelashes caught everyone’s eye. Now at nine years old she not only still captures attention but hearts as well.

Taryn is a sweet and loving little girl who at times can shift from Dr. Jekyll to Ms. Hyde, which keeps us on our toes, and occasionally shaking in our shoes. In Taryn’s case those are short little shoes, somewhat squarish, just like the Fred Flintstone feet that occupy them. Taryn prefers bare feet to the confines of shoes, and at times also views clothing as optional! Taryn is an outdoor kid. She loves to ride her bike, dig in the dirt, and because nothing scares her, has a fondness for bugs. Yes, bugs. Anything creepy and crawly that hides under rocks is a great find to her. Great to Taryn, unfortunate for the bugs.

Mainstreamed into third grade with the support of a developmental learning center, Taryn does very well in school. I love to sit and listen to her read. It is one of the few things that seems to come easy to Taryn, and she enjoys it very much. Quick witted and always good for a funny one-liner, Taryn is quite the comedian. She has a great sense of humor and even when she was very, very young she could appreciate a joke. Once in a while she’ll cross over to a hint of sarcasm…but knowing that she has my genes, I chalk it up to hereditary comic genius!

Although there are many bouts of sibling rivalry, Taryn gets along with her brother and sisters fairly well. Tyler, 10, Kristen, 7 and Kassidy 3 all love their "Sissy" too. Life at our house is interesting to say the least. On a good day we can attempt a family outing…on a bad day we stay home and fight over the last two Excedrin at the bottom of the bottle. Taryn teaches us something every day and I am proud to be her mom. That’s not to say that there aren’t those days when I tie a knot at the end of my rope and hang on for dear life…but when I stop and think about the last nine years the things that come to mind first are the good times. I cannot remember my life before Taryn and I am not sure it matters that I ever do. What we have now isn’t always perfect, but what is? Imperfections can be assets and in that respect our entire household is doing great!