Charlotte wore her old faithful blue ball gown, Cinderella couture. I forgot to take a picture, blasphemous. I knew there was going to be a 'Royal Ball' that afternoon. They even practiced dancing at school...well, they watched the dancing scenes from Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Apparently that qualifies.
Her teacher walked her to the car that afternoon and told me that Charlotte was the "belle of the ball". She danced the afternoon away, she danced with just about everybody. Then she noticed a little boy from the other class that wasn't dancing; he was standing by himself. The teacher told me Charlotte ran over and grabbed his hands, pulled him onto the "dance floor" and spent the rest of the afternoon dancing with him.
I knew exactly what little boy she was talking about. He is a very sweet little boy but a little boy that's had trouble fitting in. He's new to the school, like Charlotte is, but has special needs.
Charlotte treats everybody like they are a gift. She has this ability to make everybody feel good, especially those that need a little lifting up.
When I think about what I want most for Charlotte: I want her to be compassionate; yeah, at the forefront of it all. The first time I said that out loud to a friend, I kind of admonished myself.
What?! Compassion?! The world will eat her alive. People can be mean. There's pain and there's suffering...we will afford her every opportunity to be whatever she wants. Her name means 'strength', are you sure you wanna go with "compassion?"
But yeah...I do...
Charlotte is strong, from the inside out. She is brave and she is kind. Adam and I don't care if she is the most brilliant or most athletic. We don't care if she makes people laugh. Her daddy & I don't care if she always wins. We don’t care if Charlotte is chosen first or chosen last. Daddy doesn’t care if she is teacher's pet or best dressed or class clown. Mommy doesn't even care if Charlotte's got the coolest haircut.
We don't send her to school to be the best at anything at all. Not in preschool, not in kindergarten and (I hope) not even in middle school...or (GOD FORBID) in high school...
...no...Charlotte and Ruby are our heart. They don't have anything to earn. They already have it.
In our eyes, in our hearts, they already are the best. Neither one of them have anything to prove.
We get them ready for the world...and then (deep breath) out into it: to practice being brave and kind.
"Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.
"When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion, just do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you."
-Glennon Melton
Both girls play with the little girl on the playground that has thick glasses. They include the boy with the club foot and I have seen Ruby hug a Mexican Hairless (dog)with the long tongue disease and call him "cute".
Charlotte saw a little boy on crutches at Target and hollered out, 'what happened to your leg?!'
The little boy was excited to tell her.
She saw a man at the dog park with an exoskeletal prosthetic leg wearing shorts. She was on Adam's shoulders. Charlotte, an inquisitve, extroverted and observant 5 year old, hollered out to him, 'hey! I like your cute dog! ...wish I could get down and pet it!' She responded to him just like she would have to anybody with a cute dog, or any dog for that matter (she doesn't discriminate there either). She wasn't afraid. She wasn't rude. She just was Charlotte. And she treated him like she treats everybody: like they are to be celebrated. Because we are all gifts from God and that's exactly what he has intended.
Genuine kid. Both of 'em. Charlotte & Ruby are our dreams come true. Whether they're the belles of the ball or not.
2 comments:
That was so sweet and wonderfully well said. I couldn't agree more with you about those precious girls. I love 'em!
Noni
Nailed it!
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