
Tomorrow my littlest baby turns six years old, eight days later we celebrate both girls and the oldest baby turns nine years old - last week my little man's height and weight was checked and within the next couple of years he will be my height if not taller - he turned seven in March and is already 4 feet and 3 inches tall...they're not so little at all.
For some reason I felt more compelled today than ever to force myself to understand I can battle these girls all I want over their clothing choices for the day, however...it is in these moments I get to see their unique personalities, their creativity, and even their passion for just wanting to wear pretty clothes. I've always felt it important to stress to them that "looking pretty" on the outside isn't what matters most - it is being pretty on the inside that they should strive for.
My not so-girlie, not really dress wearing, don't understand why in the world you'd want to pair these three things together AND go out in public self was ready to make her change before going to the grocery store, everything about this says "my mommy lets me dress myself," and that I might even not really care about what they're wearing - but the smile she had on her face when she was ready to head out to the store with her stepdad was the one thing I absolutely refused to destroy this morning. To the people that may gawk and make rude comments - at least they do have clothes on today...stop crushing a child's creativity and uniqueness. They're only little one, and this morning, I'm in here crying and begging almost with God to let them stay little forever in my house because the world is a cruel place and spends more time crushing the hearts of dreamers and believers in all the negative that's out there.
Maybe...just maybe, if we spent more time building each other up, raising our children to be free-thinkers, problem solvers, dreamers, believers, and pushed more "out of the box thinking," the world the next generation is being raised in could become so much more of a wonderful place where innovations are beyond what happens inside a lab...where the innovations made really aren't anything new or exciting, but rather a revival of times long forgotten when matters of the heart and mind are at stake.
The last two months have been hectic...professionally things have been backed up and damn near mental break down levels, personally they've surpassed mental break down levels and I find that even when things are going the absolute worse they can go - there's really only two choices. To try and control the chaos...which typically just adds more stress and wine consumption than what really is acceptable by all pertinent views, or to embrace it (within reason of course) and really let your littles see just what it means to go with the flow of life, to handle the punches one at a time and to work together to make things happen.
They're only little once, but in that "littleness" is the huge ability to learn from the actions of others...today they're learning to be themselves, to be comfortable in their own skin, to flaunt the unique person they are and how one day when they're a mommy who hasn't slept well in a week, who only wants the best for their little ones, who can't believe their littles ones have grown up so much already, who really wants them to see what love looks like, and who just needed a gentle reminder that life is perfectly imperfect in so many ways...that they will remember to embrace the chaos, even if it is just funky clothing choices on a Friday morning, and be reminded how uniquely made each child is and how perfect they are in those differences.