Thursday, March 1
After spending my evenings this week being lazy, I'm knee-deep in dirty laundry, so I'm sneaking a little blogging in between loads.There have been several things on my mind this week... and I'm not really sure what to blog about first. My parents visited us last weekend, and my dad (who Griff has always adored) rode Griff pretty hard about a particular habit of his.
For those of you who don't know us personally, my Mike is 6'2" and walks on his toes. Really. On his toes. Griff does the same thing. Eliza's already doing it. too, though I figure it'll eventually work in her favor when she starts wearing heels.
My dad's worried that the kids will tease Griff about his toe walking, and so he kept talk
ing about Griff about how he needed to stop doing it. By Sunday evening, Griff had asked me if I could get his grandfather to leave him alone. It was heart-breaking on lots of levels.I believe that kids are going to pick on one another. It's the nature of being children, unfortunately. I figure there are worse things for him to get teased about... how bad is toe walking, really?
Now, our Griff's not your typical 8-year-old boy. He's not interested in sports at all, and while he plays video games, he's not as addicted to them as he was a couple of years ago. He's a smart kid who would rather do science experiments than play outside. He loves "Mythbusters." He's his own little man.
I have said many, many times that the qualities that will make Griff an amazing man will also make it difficult at times to be a little boy.
Much like his daddy, he doesn't much care what people think about him. When I asked him about the kids teasing him, he told me that he just ignores them. And knowing him well, I can believe that.
Of course, my dad insisted that it's impossible for Griff to really blow the kids off. And while I'm quite sure that I know my child better than my dad does (we only see my folks a couple of times a year), it still made me wonder.
I'm thrilled with the fact that I have a kid who is comfortable enough with himself that he can do his own thing and be happy with it. My gosh, how fabulous is that? I wish I were more like that now!
And yet, are we doing him a disservice by not pushing him toward more mainstream 'boy' things? Rather than encouraging his individuality, should we be easing him toward more mainstream activities?
When we made this move, I knew Griff would be okay because he's an easy-going kid. But mostly because I know that as long as he is secure in our love and environment, he can grow his own wings.
And I think we're doing the right things with him. But in thinking about it, I have those mama doubts that come up periodically. I just have to trust that God has given us insights into Griff that others might not have and that if we listen to God's voice and His leadership, we'll be the helping, nurturing parents we need to be.
[ posted by Chel on Thursday, March 01, 2007 ]
[ 1 comments ]
1 Comments:
When did you start listening to your folks? You are doing a great job with Griff!!
Love Mandy
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4:44 PM