While most girls
in the 1st grade had their bedroom strewn with princesses, all
things pink and soft, and closets bulging with tutus, and dresses that twirl,
our girl was visiting nature stores. Her jeans pocket was home to a stuffed bat
with long brown wings and tiny ears, and she had high hopes for purchasing
another poster indicating the variety of bats found in our world. Her bookshelf
was stacked with non-fiction books about Vampire bats, fruit bats, and all
collections in between and if they were available, her comforter, sheets and
pillowcase would have been donned in flying creatures. There is a good reason
why bat sheets are not available. Bats. Flying, blood sucking, creepy, fly-in-your-hair-and-get-stuck,
bats. My only girl. Bats.
While we secretly
hoped that her bat fixation would pass, we always welcomed a new bat photo, key
chain, or book into our home. We celebrated national bat week, recorded bat
documentaries on television, purchased bat paraphernalia, and made bat cookies
for her birthday. We embraced bats.
She also went
through a stage of pulling her hair into a ponytail for 6 years straight and
insisted on wearing boy’s basketball shorts and t-shirts as her primary
wardrobe. At some point we were only allowed to call her Mrs. Jumbo, and during
one summer I painted her face every day for two weeks with a rainbow and
clouds. Her clothes rarely matched, she has never owned a doll, Barbie, or
Hello Kitty pillow, and was more interested in painting dolphins than toes and
fingernails.
Every child in
unique, and God purposely created people with different interests and skills.
Celebrate the individuality of your kids. Find the common thread no matter how
different they are from you. Stages pass, interests shift, and maturity
happens.
Sameness is dull
and being just like everyone else is boring. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He
has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned
for us long ago.” Hebrews 2:10 NLT
God has a great plan
for your child as they develop their own, distinctive, personality. But
be warned, you may have to learn how to discern between a Little Brown and
Bumblebee Bat. My condolences.
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