Wil's cousin Daniel is 10 years old and Wil thinks he is the GREATEST thing ever.
When we're all together, Wil is always trying to engage Daniel and impress him. Daniel is right at that age when being cool to a 3 year old is SO NOT cool, and you can see the internal struggle on his face. Wil is so sweet and pure and so far from jaded in his thinking that he fully expects his big cousin to think his green stegosaurus undies are completely exciting and fantastically cool when poor Daniel just wants to melt into the carpet for having seen a 3 year old's gear so unexpectedly.
Thankfully, Wil doesn't have the complex social skills of knowing to be embarassed when he doesn't get the reaction he expected. He just moves on. My heart breaks everytime knowing the day is coming where he will "get it" and feel small about it. I guess that is part of how we learn to be appropriate. This is one of those lessons I can't foster myself and it has to play itself out for Wil to really know.
My plan is to bring up a unique kid and to teach him to always feel cool, no matter what anyone else thinks! That sort of confidence convinces others - we've all seen it. We all know somebody like this. That poster in the counsellor's office at your Junior High, "Dare to be different! Dare to be yourself!", it really works for some kids and I want to teach that as much as I'm able to.
What breaks your heart for your children?
O
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Kayla is in the 5th grade, and 5th grade is so damn hard for little girls. It still amazes me how mean little girls can be. I still remember how hard 5th and 6th grade were. I know my daughter isn't perfect, and I'm sure she's been mean before...I wouldn't go back to that time for anything!
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