Mini－me is what I called my daughter Micah. We used to do many things 1 . But these days, "I'm Good" is about all she says to me. Code for "Leave me alone".
"Why doesn't she want to do things with me?" I thought as I set the table for 2 one evening.
"Mom!" Micah cried 3 . "Come quick!"
I 4 out and found a little baby bird on the ground. My eyes went to the branch above. For the last few weeks, we had watched mockingbirds make a nest and 5 eggs there.
"The wind must have 6 him out of the nest, " I said.
"No, it was Mr. Whiskers—our cat. You let him go outside!" Micah said.
"I'm sorry," I said and put the bird back. Happy to put the incident behind us, we went inside. Micah hopped on her iPad. "More cat videos?" I asked.
"I'm 7 what to feed it, " she said. She was more focused than ever. I wished she had been half as 8 in me.
"It needs a(n) 9 , " Micah said.
"How about Chance?I think he has a good chance of 10 it with your help. "
"I like it, " said Micah. Finally we could 11 something.
Early the next morning I got up to mix the bird food Micah found on the Internet. But the breakfast wasn't 12 , because his mother was back!
Micah kept close 13 on him. Weeks later, we went to check on Chance. The nest was empty. Chance was seated proudly on nearby branch. He was a(n) 14 bird.
Micah isn't a mini－me, I realized. She is her own person, 15 more independent every day.
