Letting Her Be Who She Is

"I'm going to sign you up to take dance classes!"

"I DON'T WANNA TAKE DANCE CLASSES."

"But you love to dance!  It will be so fun.  They'll play music and you get to dance and laugh with your friends."

"I DON'T WANNA TAKE DANCE CLASSES."

"You get to wear a tutu, and special shoes, and Daddy and I will come watch you!"

"MOMMMMY, I SAID I DON'T WANNA TAKE DANCE CLASSES."

I think my heart sank a little bit after this conversation with CK.  I started taking ballet when I was four, and ended up dancing competitively for nine years.  The minute I heard the words, "It's a girl!" I had visions of tutus and dance classes and recitals and gluing rhinestones on costumes into the wee hours of the night.  So the fact that my very stubborn, very I-know-what-I-want three-year-old was telling me NO DANCE was like SHATTERING MY DREAMS.

Ok, maybe that's a little dramatic.

But still.  I already had the online registration pulled up and was about to submit my payment when little miss threenager informed me that it would be a waste of my money, because I DON'T WANNA TAKE DANCE CLASSES.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"I want to do 'banastics' and I want to play tee-ball."

So that's what we signed up for -- "banastics" and tee-ball -- and I tucked away my dreams of sitting at her dance recital... for now at least.

I think any mama will agree that the moment you find out you're pregnant, you immediately envision what having a son/daughter will entail; however, what I envisioned didn't take into consideration that my son/daughter would actually have an opinion, and a strong one, about what she wears/does/plays/eats/likes/dislikes.

We all know I'm the mama of a very opinionated, very headstrong threenager.  And yes, as her parent, I can have an impact on what she wears/does/plays/eats/likes/dislikes, but she also is who she is.  And what's been hard for me is letting her be who she is.

She's a little girl who likes long-sleeves, no matter how hot it is.  A little girl who is obsessed with Peppa Pig.  A little girl who needs to sleep with eight specific stuffed animals in her bed, who truly believes bandaids have magical healing powers, who refused a princess souvenir from Disney World, and begged for the Big Hero 6 stuffed animal instead.  A little girl who prefers tomatoes over chips.  A little girl who thinks you're supposed to wear the same color from head-to-toe.  A little girl who needs her Ellie to feel brave, who likes to ride roller-coasters, who is terrified of people dressed in costume.  She's equal parts girly and tomboy, and a little girl who always needs time to warm up to new people and new situations.

She's a little girl with an incredibly kind heart, a little girl who hates disappointing her parents and absolutely adores her little brother.  She's a little girl who is observant, shy, silly, smart, talkative, friendly, and loving.  She's my little girl, and I am already so proud of who she has become, and look forward to watching her grow up into exactly who she's supposed to be.

So for now, instead of a dance mom, I guess I'm going to be a tee-ball mom.  And this Saturday, instead of shopping for a tutu and some pink ballet shoes, we're headed to the sporting goods store for a batting helmet, a glove, and some cleats.