Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Last night at our weekly pizza night at Stellar Emma made a new friend. On our way to the car she proclaimed,

"mama, the boy with the crazy hair is coming to our house. I invited him. He has two moms. I like him"

Henry, age 4, is the biracial son of a lesbian couple. Why is that important? I think it is important because it demonstrates how much different the world is through the eyes of a child. Children are blind to struggles of the world and unaware of society based judgments. Emma and Henry played all night long in the airplane taking trips to who knows where. To them, they were just two kids having fun.

Emma has no idea that she lives in a world where people are judged because the color of their skin. Emma is unaware that in this country same sex couples are fighting for the right to be married and to have equal rights. Emma doesn't know about discrimination. All Emma knows is that she really liked Henry. She was not concerned that his skin was a different color. She didn't care that his family was different than ours. All she cared about was that he was a new friend and that they had a good time.

That is beautiful.

Can you imagine how much better the world would be if we could step back and look at the world through the eyes of a child?

Little Cowgirl

One day about 8 months ago, Emma declared, "Mama, I want pink cowboy boots!!"

Huh? Pink Cowboy boots? What does she know about pink cowboy boots? I laughed it off and figured like everything else, this too will be a short lived request. Maybe she saw someone on the street with pink cowboy boots. . who knows. She'll forget about it and it will be business as usual.

Well. . to my dismay (or delight. . you interpret as necessary) the request for pink cowboy boots kept coming. At least 3 times a week Em would ask for her boots. I did a little web surfing and scoffed at the selection and prices of toddler sized pink cowboy boots. I hoped she would let this go.

Did she give it up?

Nope.

Several times a week Em would ask for her boots. About 2 weeks ago I decided to start the search again. Low and behold I found a pair of good looking boots in her size for 1/2 off (for the record, it still doesn't make them cheap). I added the boots to my shopping cart and clicked buy.

Call me a pushover. Call me a sucker. Call me the mama of a well dressed kid. It's your call!

A few days after the boots arrived I finally figured out where the idea for pink cowboy boots came from. Our neighbors planter! Of course she wanted pink cowboy boots, we walk by these everyday twice a day.

If I could edit the video I would show you Em's reaction to her boots.

Did she squeal with delight?

Did she run and give me a hug and thank you?

Did she pass out from surprise?

Um, no. She looked up and said, "Where's my cowboy hat?"
Little ingrate.. . ha ha ha.

What did we do. . .say stuff it? Nope!

Brian went online and bought the matching hat. The set is now complete and she's ready to go for a ride.

Snow Bunny. . . .

Or Not. . .

Seattle isn't known for it's snow. We usually get one snow blast a year and Em has never been a fan. . . well this year is no exception.

This year I had big hopes that Em would enjoy making snowmen, throwing snowballs, and laying in the snow for the obligatory snow angel. I know better. My kid doesn't like to be dirty, wet or cold. . . and a combination of two of the three is a recipe for disaster.

She was all for it . .in the beginning. Here she is supervising Brian's snowman making. Notice she's not helping.

Now she's over it. "Can I go home now?" I think we made it to about 15 minutes. I told her she could go home if she smiled. . .this was her response.
I did get her to go down the hill on a real sled before being forced back indoors.

Obviously we weren't snow ready. . . here's our make-shift sled.

Oh yeah, we're classy!