by Monica on November 10, 2009
Awww...how sweet! You're back again! Hope you enjoy your visit with the Peapod Squad!
I heard a cuh-razy story on the radio this morning about a woman in South Korea who finally passed her driver’s test after a whopping 950 times! The DJ’s were holding this story up as some encouraging bit about never giving up. Honestly, all I get from this story is total horror. Can you just imagine what a hideous driver this woman is going to be? Would you seriously want to be on the road with someone who couldn’t score 60% on a driver’s test 949 times? Good grief! Have you seen some of the complete idiots who pass on the first try?
But I did start thinking about the whole idea of persistence. And I immediately remembered this picture I took of Sweet Pea last week.
She has been downright obsessed with learning to pedal her tricycle. Her friends at pre-k can do it. Her 3-year-old neighbor mastered pedaling long ago. It has really bugged her. She started coming home every day telling me she needed to “pwactice” and I’d have to drag her back inside after a while because she seemed to think she had to stay at it until she became the next Lance Armstrong. On this particular day, she got it. She figured out the coordination required and was so incredibly focused on the process. I could hear her mumbling “Ok. Ok. Ok.” to herself as she struggled to keep her pink Croc’d feet moving in the right rhythm.
She’s a stubborn little girl. Always has been. And while that stubbornness drives me slap nutty most days, I realize it will serve her well as she grows up. She will not settle for “sort of.” She cannot tolerate mediocrity. She never accepts “almost.” She’s determined to do what she wants to do…even if it means having to “pwactice” more than others. When pediatric neurologists at Duke Children’s Hospital were telling us she may have some delays, we prepared ourselves for providing whatever support necessary as she faced what lay ahead. Instead, we’ve learned to just stand back and watch in amazement as she conquers the world one tricycle ride at a time.
You go, girl. We’re so proud of you.
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by Monica on October 16, 2009
My children apparently took after their father in that they think they simply MUST get out of bed as soon as their little eyes pop open. UGH.
I fear I wounded my daughter’s ego a tiny bit this morning because of our differences in internal clocks.
We don’t leave for pre-k until 8am. I’m not keen on having to wake earlier than 7. At 6:30 this morning, however, Sweet Pea comes skipping (what is WRONG with anyone who skips at that hour?!?!) into our bedroom…fully dressed including shoes…to ask me to turn on the light so I can see how cute she looks. Really.
Unfortunately, my reaction was far from the affirmation she was requesting. I regret that now and plan to do my best to make up for it when I see her later. Because once I was more fully awake, turned on the light and had enjoyed my requisite cups of coffee…sure enough. She looked incredibly cute. And if I looked so adorable, I’d probably want someone to tell me so.
The thing is…it’s a really tough balance instilling self-confidence in a youngster while driving home the point that beauty is, as my mom used to remind me, more than skin (or darling new outfit) deep.
A couple of weeks ago I was in the kids’ room saying bedtime prayers with them when I was flabbergasted to hear Sweet Pea’s sincere “Thank you, God, for making me so beautiful.” That’s what she wanted to tell God. And my first instinct was to squelch that apparent vanity and superficial gratitude. But why? Why can’t she be thankful that she’s beautiful? If I’ve done my job well, she isn’t seeing “beautiful” as just pretty hair, big brown eyes, flawless skin. I hope she sees herself as the “beautifully” kind, generous, compassionate child of God I see when I look at her (most of the time).
I’m currently teaching Beth Moore’s Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman on Friday mornings. We’re hearing a lot about Esther’s beauty: the physical beauty that everyone in Persia could readily see and (most importantly) the beauty of her heart…the openness to God’s will…the simple approach that set her apart from the other pretty girls brought before King Xerxes.
There has been much hullabaloo recently over the Ralph Lauren advertisement that severely edited a female model into an emaciated body that looked barely sturdy enough to hold up its head! I hate the fact that I’m raising a daughter in a world that sees beauty through such a narrowly focused lens. I try very hard to keep my own “I’m so fat” self-talk out of her earshot. I don’t want those concepts affecting her right now (or ever…but I’m not that naive).
I hope she grows up to be a radiantly beautiful young woman. Beautiful, like Queen Esther, in all the RIGHT ways. For that I, too, will loudly thank God. I may even jump out of bed at some decidedly ungodly hour to do so.
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by Monica on September 9, 2009
Sweet Pea was VERY mad that we didn’t go straight from pre-k to church. She loves Mission Friends and Preschool Choir on Wednesday nights. I kept telling her that it was more than 2 hours ’til time for church. No one else would be there if we went straight there.
By the time I pulled into our driveway, she had worked herself into quite the tizzy. She refused to come out of the van. Absolutely refused. “I’m NEVER NOT coming out of this van!”
OK. I’ll save the double negative lesson for another day.
After a few moments of us being in the house (I left the van door open and was standing at the front door window watching her the whole time…no worries folks), I realized a new strategy was in order if this standoff was going to come to a peaceful ending.
I sent Snap Pea to get my camera off the desk. If there’s anything Sweet Pea loves more than having her own way, it’s getting her picture taken. Sure enough, I started snapping photos and out popped her curious head. It wasn’t long before she was strutting in the door ready for more photo ops.
Thank goodness for vanity.
My favorite shot from this photographic negotiation is my day 4 photo in the series 365 Photos.
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