Our creative daughter

Our daughter's latest creative outlet is her website. She is only 11, so I don't want to link to it. Her writing is expressive and emotional. Here is an excerpt from the "thoughts" page:

What is my mind??
My mind is an enigma (Stupid? don't know that big word? click here). It is a twisting, turning place. My mind is a home to memories, good and bad. I live in those memories. Some are locked, and not to be shared, others, much more open. I am my mind. The mind is me. Without my mind I am nothing. My mind is confusing. My mind is a brain. My mind is all in my head. My mind contains feelings, controls thoughts and rules the body. My mind is everything that makes me well, me. My mind is a mystery. My mind is a government of myself, without it, who would help me live? Don't mess with my mind.

Did I mention she is 11 years old? I was not writing like this at her age.

Here is a funny list she pasted under "joke of the day".

I really do love this country, but...

1. Only in America... can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

2. Only in America... are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.

3. Only in America... do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

4. Only in America... do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

5. Only in America... do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

6. Only in America... do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

7. Only in America... do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

8. Only in America... do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

9. Only in America... do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

10. Only in America... do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille.

We are using the website as a learning tool for internet safety. Here is an example of what she has learned. She was asking for stories, comments or otherwise from her friends to publish and this was the fine print at the bottom:

Hand them to me on paper in school. Please tell me if you want your name on the internet, and please note that I will take out any personal info that may be harmful to have on the internet. Make sure that all articles posted are clean and of good content. If I find anything inappropriate, I will take it off immediately/ not post it. Each story must be written by the author you state on the paper, or if it was written by someone else, note who that is on the paper. Do not use your real name on the paper, instead use a nickname, screen name, etc.