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Home > Blogs > Adventures in Motherhood > Archives > 2009 > September > 24 > Entry
Life gives us many opportunities to make lemonade
All kids are different — inside and out.
Not only do they come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes, but many times they also have less visible elements that are just as unique.
I mention this because sometimes, in that window before you have kids but after you have sat through numerous Gerber commercials, you form an expectation about what your babies will be like.
You start to think they will come into the world as perfect little packages, complete with 10 fingers, 10 toes and every other gooey corner intact.
But it doesn’t always work out that way. In fact, the more I talk to other parents, the more it seems that the glossy prepackaged version is the rarer of the outcomes.
At one of my kids’ practices recently, I was talking with another mom about these differences.
She mentioned that her son, who looked as healthy as can be, had some pretty serious kidney problems. Then she mentioned another kid we knew who was born with multiple kidneys.
In response, I told her about how my son had to have a couple surgeries to deal with a condition he was born with.
“If you look out there on the field,” she said, pointing to players on our team and the players they were scrimmaging, “I’ll bet you wouldn’t find one kid who didn’t have something different.”
It got me to thinking about the kids I knew and some of the things they were dealing with — learning disabilities, eczema, asthma, scoliosis and so on.
And these are some of the luckier kids; the ones you might not suspect of having anything amiss.
Even though each of us parents would like our kids to be as healthy, smart and well-adjusted as possible, maybe everyone is born as they should be — with flaws, challenges and lessons to learn.
In our fast-paced, competitive society, that is a good thing to remember.
With all there is to be measured by today — from the milestones we are supposed to hit as toddlers, to the 7-year-olds competing for spots on select teams, to the plethora of adults vying for the few open jobs — it is good to step back once in a while and appreciate all that we are, rather than all that we’re not.
And this goes for all of our unique and wonderful kids as well.
Because all kids are different — inside and out.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Mother's Daze columns
Comments
By Dave Kelley
September 29, 2009 11:21 PM | Link to this
Amen, sister. This is one to share with your two little ones, and save for them to refer to as they grow. Bravo!
By Lea
September 24, 2009 10:05 AM | Link to this
What a beautiful observation. We are all different - and that makes us better.