My daughter turned ten years old yesterday.

Shit.

I’ll spare you the “It seems like yesterday …” spiel because we all feel the same way. In the blink of an eye we go from diaper changing to evaluating the first potential boyfriend.

We are warned by those trailblazers before us on how fleeting the time really is, but until one goes through it, one doesn’t truly appreciate just how damn accurate that assessment is.

Son of a …

In honor of my daughter’s first decade, here are eight things she has taught me over the years:

Ingenuity – I am not handy at all. My wife knew it from the day we met (I think it was referenced in our vows) and the kids now know it as well. The care and concern is there; the execution, not so much.

I think my son accepted his father’s flaw at an early age and gave up asking for help. Poor guy is destined to carry on the Markowski tradition. Perfect example – his bedroom door has not closed all the way for years now and makes a horrifically loud sound every time he shuts it. Attempts to fix it have been … attempted … and still no resolution to date. He doesn’t even complain any more.

My daughter, on the other hand, doesn’t accept her father’s shortcomings. She calls me out on it when I deserve it. I think dad’s weakness has been used as an impetus to “just do it”. I can remember her fashioning a birdhouse out of cardboard, a coaster out of duct tape (still in rotation to this day) and numerous hats made out of simple construction paper.

We have a tradition of reading “The Night Before Christmas” each Christmas Eve right before the kids go to bed. She loves it but figured why stop there. When I told her books do not exist for the other holidays, she simply created them herself.

Why purchase baseball cards for your brother when you can make them yourself?

Always dream big –  Yes, it is easy to dream when you are young and wonderfully naive, but this girl takes it to another level. She uses it as a to-do list. Our goal is to simply stay out of the way. Scratch that, stay out of the way but tag along and maybe learn a thing or ten.

We all need something like this.

And why not tell the world about it while we’re at it.

Don’t let anyone tell you “no you can’t” –

When we were in Vermont a few weeks ago, the boys had planned a big football game against the dads. My daughter insisted on playing even though she had never done so before. You don’t tell her “no”. To say she was our team’s MVP is an understatement.

A sign tells her she can’t ride, she simply sneaks on while hiding behind her brother.

A simple note is quite powerful – This one gets me more than anything else she has ever done. This is not one of those “you should make something for your dad” or a school assignment. This comes from that precious little heart of hers that I pray is never broken by anyone. I will seriously put quite the smack down if that happens.

And it doesn’t end with her parents. She knew how to bring a smile to great-grandma’s face each and every visit.

Feigning interest works – I bought it hook, line and sinker. Killer boots too.

Selfies are always fun – a boring event can become a legendary one with the simple use of a camera phone.

A zest for life is contagious – fun is right around the corner if you simply look for it.

I kid you not, from the day she was born, she would wake up each morning with a smile on her face. EVERY MORNING. She still greets every day like an opportunity for fun and adventure and experience. She even talks about forcing herself to dream positively each night. Where did this girl come from?

Bedtime is a sacred event – We have always been strict about the kids bed times. No staying up until you fall asleep nonsense. Part of the reason is that we wanted to give ourselves enough time to read to them and just slowly shut down the day.

To this day, my daughter still loves it. I carry her on my back up the stairs each and every night and we hang in bed and just chat. No distractions, just an opportunity to allow the night to take over and slowly wind down. When we’re done, my wife comes in and rubs my daughter’s back as a “scratch-a-bye” (guess who coined that phrase?).

Are there times we resist the bedtime routine? Ashamedly, yes. But she holds us to it and damn I love her for that.