I think as parents we always hope that our kids will learn from our shortcomings. I do. I hope that my kids see that they are the captains of their destiny no matter where that will take them. I hope that they have the courage to believe in their inner beauty and not listen to the swarms of people lining up to tell them they are not pretty enough, thin enough, tall enough... ENOUGH!! Please listen to one of my favorite GLEE (yes I am a GLEEK!) smashups... I will wait... I Feel Pretty/ Unpretty mashup
I am a product of what other people think of me. My parents and family love me unconditionally but the world is much crueler! It has taken me a LOOOOOOOONG time to stop listening to them and start listening to the inner me. It wasn't until I heard Shane Koyczan do his To This Day poem that it really hit me... I need to define my own beauty, not follow what others believe about beauty. I want this more than anything for my children. I want them to ignore everything that society is telling them about BEAUTY and just to BE BEAUTIFUL, whatever that means to them. When someone says to James, "You look just like your mum," I don't want him to be clouded by other people's perception of my physical appearance but his understanding of who I am in his world. Following his own understanding of what that means.
Shane Koyczan talks, in his wonderful poem, about a girl who grows up feeling "ugly" because kids teased her constantly in school. "...to this day despite a loving husband she doesn't think she’s beautiful because of a birthmark that takes up a little less than half of her face kids used to say she looks like a wrong answer that someone tried to erase but couldn't quite get the job done and they’ll never understand that she’s raising two kids whose definition of beauty begins with the word mom..." >>the full poem here<<
So to Jamesie I say, "I love you and you are my very special "mini-me." Just be true to yourself and you will go far!! Don't listen to those who want to say mean things to tear you down. You are a HUGE part of my definition of BEAUTY!! Just remember to take me with you so I don't have to miss any part of your amazing and beautiful journey."
 |
| Me and James at approximately the same age. Freaky isn't it! |
