Uniquely her

A child comes into this world as his/her own little person, ready for molding. In the nature vs. nurture debate, I am completely on the fence. It's both. The way we raise our children and the experiences we provide for them definitely shapes them. But I also know that our children are born with unique personalities, quirks, and gifts.  Society also manages to get a hold of our children's young minds and plays an influential role as well. So, between our quirks (as parents), society's quirks (church, media, education), and their quirks, these children become uniquely them.

The other day I heard such a sweet story about a 4 or 5 year old girl who wanted to have an art show displaying her own original art to raise money for an orphanage in Africa. And your response right now, probably matched my immediate response, "Ahhhh.  Isn't that so sweet?

And then a moment later, I thought, "My daughter would never think of that. Why not?"

Because my daughter is uniquely Montana.  It does me no good to get down on myself for not raising her better and it does no good whatsoever comparing my daughter to another person. She may not think to give money to orphans, but I have seen her speak boldly.

Okay, okay. Maybe I am just giving her "out-loud kid" words a positive reframe, but there is an element of truth that cannot go unnoticed.

Example 1: At a playdate, her friend got "hurt" and then began to "fake" cry.  We are all familiar with that cry.  My daughter looked at her friend and asked "why are you fake crying?"

Example 2: At church the other night she and another girl were discussing the girl's upcoming 7th birthday. Montana expressed her desire to be seven. This friend was trying to comfort Montana like an older girl to a younger girl would, "Don't worry...you'll be 7 like me someday, but now you are just 4." After a bit of back and forth, Montana had enough. She basically responded with, "well, you will die before me." Yep. You read that right. Conversation stopper.

I have several more examples that I think (hope) most kids say:

that man has old skin

that woman has old hands
even though your hair is short, mom, I still love you
Etc, etc.

And you know what? Even though we need to work on tact, I am proud of Montana. I hope she continues to speak boldly but with love. She may never raise money for orphans at this point in her life, but she has a unique gift to offer the world that is uniquely Montana.  I love when I catch glimpses of those gifts -  even if they are a bit unrefined!