Taking Charge

For anyone anxious about the outcome of the November elections, relax: Berry already runs the country. You just don't know it yet.

Well, to be accurate, she runs all the parts of the country that matter to her. Anywhere there's a grandparent, a parent, a cousin, a friend, a rival or a puppy – she's got it covered.

In addition to issuing little directions ("Si-down, Nanna!", "Wake up, Ga-gum!", "No touch my mama, Emma!") she's apparently taken on her own toddler-leadership role. After her preschool class field trip to the dental clinic yesterday, Berry's teacher told me that all the kids had been scared of the dentist's chair, shrinking into the corners of the room. That was until Berry climbed up on the chair, lay back and let the nurse put the special glasses on her. After that, all the kids wanted in on the action. "Little miss is the leader," her teacher said, "They just wait to see what she does."

I was painfully shy as a kid – terrified of public embarrassment, of saying the wrong thing, of looking silly or of making people angry. It's a revelation to see a child – my own child – comfortable in her own skin and confident that the world will accept her.

That's an enchanted little universe, and I hope at least part of it will survive her childhood intact.

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