“Instead of celebrating what makes each child unique, most parents push their children to “fit in” so that they don’t “stick out.” This unwittingly stomps out individuality and encourages conformity, despite these parents’ good intentions”
― Tom Rath, How Full Is Your Bucket?
Good Morning!
We all know that our child is unique and special. When we take that first glance at our newborn’s face we realize and believe with our whole heart they we have the most beautiful child on the planet and certainly the most special and unique child.
But in just a few years we are trying our best to make them be just like all of the other children. We try and teach them to walk and talk so that they will do that at the same time as their “friends”. We hire tutors and sit with them night after night “helping” them with their homework so that they get all A’s on their report card, just like the rest of their class. We don’t let them wear the clothes that want or dye their hair blonde or red or especially bright orange. We expect them to act like all of the other well behaved children of their age. So what happened to that special and unique child?
What happened is our desire to have our child “fit in” with the other children around them. What happened is our desire to not have “that child”. You know, the one who is so different from everyone else. What happened is our desire to protect our child from the harshness of other people and so we tried our very best to not have them “stick out”. It all came from the love we have for our child and we did this with the best of intentions but the end result is that we inadvertently took the specialness and the uniqueness right out of our child.
So…instead of trying to have your child fit in, celebrate their uniqueness. Whether their uniqueness is their bright orange hair, the fact they have ADHD, the amazing drawings that they do, their zest for life, the fact they would rather read than play with friends or one of the many thousand ways that they show their uniqueness, understand how special they are. And not only understand it, but shout it to the world, celebrate their individuality and let your child know how much you love having such uniquely special child!
Have some fun today!
peggy
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