I am very honored to be working with Hallmark as a Life is a Special Occasion featured blogger and for their sponsoring this blog post, allowing me to share personal stories, insights and inspirations in enjoying simple, every day moments, with you (yes, YOU!)
My youngest daughter is SUCH a free spirit and, well, taking into consideration that she is the youngest of four, it probably wouldn't surprise you to also learn that the survival instinct is strong with this one.
Which may or may not have something to do with the fact that, by the time she came along, my husband Garth (not his real name) and I had grown a little more comfortable with allowing her to climb the walls (literally) and, hopefully, release some of that excess energy.
Raising Hope is a stark contrast to my first years of parenting: making sure to dress my oldest girls in matching outfits before leaving the house or wanting to wrap my son in duct tape to keep him from falling off of his bike, again (he's got his mother's sense of balance, sorry dude!) whereas Hope wears it as a fashion statement.
Suddenly, I quit worrying about stuff that used to wig me out: like the day she decided to CUT HER HAIR. Hope is the only one of my kids to have taken a pair of scissors and cut her hair, all on her own (I know, feel free to act surprised anyway) which is one of the MANY reasons why my husband Garth (not his real name) and I reference our youngest as our, "little ticket into heaven."
Preschool and kindergarten were difficult for Hope. She got along with the other kids just fine (survival instinct...ENGAGED!) fitting in, however, not so much.
She gets THAT from me: not committing myself to any one particular group or clique and NOT because I believe myself to be better, stronger, faster...whatever...but I sort of enjoy the lightness of being a free spirit (okay, so some would say a little odd) too.
Then, Hope hit 3rd grade (HARD!) and if I had a dollar for each time the kid came home to tell me about a new club the girls formed during recess and her NOT being one of them, well, I could probably afford those new Osiris sneakers, she's been BEGGING for, by now.
Then, a funny thing happened in 5th grade. Hope watched an episode of Glee with her oldest sister (who has a thing for Broadway musicals, enough said) and, well, it was more than just okay to be different.
Hope: If I cut my hair off, will kids stare?
Me: Maybe
[one beat, two beats]
Hope: Can you make an appointment for me, today?
I've finally come to a conclusion: perhaps becoming THAT Mom (or Dad) is inevitable for all of us at some point in our parenting and most probably has something to do with our kid(s) hitting double-digits.
Hope has ALSO helped me complete my evolution into becoming THAT mom: you know, whose parenting philosophy is similar to yours...on opposite day.
Now that she's entering middle school [shiver] it's SO GOOD to know she has a close-knit group of friends, who seem to accept each other for who they are and maybe even help make the transition into adulthood a little easier.
[knockin on wood until knuckles bleed]
One can only hope (no pun intended!) right?!? RIGHT?!? Riiiiiiight.
Then again, scaring the opposition to pacification is what we do best here at This Full House of mis-matched feet and over-sized tights...YO!!!
© 2003 - 2012 This Full House
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