I'll do it myself!

My parents tell a story. They think I was about 3 at the time. We were at a planetarium and they (obviously) have to turn out all the lights to see the stars. I got scared and my dad had to take me out. As we sat outside, he looked at me and asked me why I had been scared. He told me “nobody else was scared”.

As the story goes, I looked at my dad, stared him directly in the eyes and stated. “Well… they are them and I’m me.”.Hmmm…. I told him.

 And I had told him. I had told him exactly who I am. I didn’t care what someone else did or did not like. They were them and I was me. I could like or not like whatever I chose. So there.

 The other day, after nap, my daughter was sitting at the table eating a goldfish snack. She was focused in that fun way. She was picking up each and every goldfish and telling me about its travels before she ate it. One fish was swimming to school and another was swimming to chick-Fil-A. Yet another fish was jumping in and out of the pretend water. Such creativity in that little mind.

I gazed at her and realized that no little girl had ever been so beautiful.

So, I asked her. “Honey, are you mommy’s beautiful girl?” She smiled at me and proudly stated. “No! I am MY girl!” Ahhh… Like mother like daughter. She wasn’t MY anything. She was all HERS. Hmmmm… I wonder where she got that particular personality trait. Certainly NOT from me… J (Insert sheepish expression here)

I am so in for it when she’s a teenager. If I need a glass of wine now, I’ll need the whole bottle to myself then. Sigh.

My son has strength of individuality, but he doesn’t quite display it the same way. I don’t imagine that he would “tell me” like she did. He’s like his dad. He’d probably sit quietly, listen to me, then go do whatever he felt was right for him without calling attention to himself. That’s what he does now.

I wonder which way is healthier?