Tonight I took Beanie (girl, 5.75) to her gymnastics (tumbling) class for her semi-annual parent-viewing class. She was a bit overwhelmed with all the parents and acted out a little, but I did lots of smiling and thumbs-upping to try to keep her on track. This is her third year with the dance studio, so she's comfortable with the director and usually does ok.
In her nervousness, Beanie got a bit keyed up (at this point it's impossible to tell if it's the potential ADHD, anxiety, or the plain old quirky five year old trying to fit in). She kept asking this other girl for her name. I think, for our purposes, I'll call her "Cruella." Eventually, Cruella got annoyed and started ignoring Beanie. I wanted to go punch Cruella.
I started getting very internally sad and frustrated. A lot of her schoolmates get very annoyed with Beanie because she's so inquisitive. She tends to peat and repeat the same questions several times, and some children aren't very nice about it. I tend to get very defensive. I think to myself- Ok, this little girl has gotten the shallow end of the gene pool. She's got two parents who were "gifted" children. One has adult ADD, the other has severe anxiety and depression (hint: that's me). How in h-e-doublehockeystick is she supposed to fit in.
And then, she'll say something like "Can we say a prayer for my friend Noah? He's on crutches and I'm sure his foot hurts. It's probably hard for him to walk. Thank God he's okay. His family will take care of him and I can help if they need me." Those are the moments when I realize what amazing gifts my children are- quirks and all. Anyone who doesn't have the patience to ride out the storm? Their loss.
Now I'm going to go say a prayer for Cruella too. As she was walking back to her father, I heard him say "You did okay, but your butt was all wrong for push-ups. You're going to have to do some before bed." Anyone who talks like that to their 5 or 6 year old needs a serious reality check. A slap in the face wouldn't hurt either.
In her nervousness, Beanie got a bit keyed up (at this point it's impossible to tell if it's the potential ADHD, anxiety, or the plain old quirky five year old trying to fit in). She kept asking this other girl for her name. I think, for our purposes, I'll call her "Cruella." Eventually, Cruella got annoyed and started ignoring Beanie. I wanted to go punch Cruella.
I started getting very internally sad and frustrated. A lot of her schoolmates get very annoyed with Beanie because she's so inquisitive. She tends to peat and repeat the same questions several times, and some children aren't very nice about it. I tend to get very defensive. I think to myself- Ok, this little girl has gotten the shallow end of the gene pool. She's got two parents who were "gifted" children. One has adult ADD, the other has severe anxiety and depression (hint: that's me). How in h-e-doublehockeystick is she supposed to fit in.
And then, she'll say something like "Can we say a prayer for my friend Noah? He's on crutches and I'm sure his foot hurts. It's probably hard for him to walk. Thank God he's okay. His family will take care of him and I can help if they need me." Those are the moments when I realize what amazing gifts my children are- quirks and all. Anyone who doesn't have the patience to ride out the storm? Their loss.
Now I'm going to go say a prayer for Cruella too. As she was walking back to her father, I heard him say "You did okay, but your butt was all wrong for push-ups. You're going to have to do some before bed." Anyone who talks like that to their 5 or 6 year old needs a serious reality check. A slap in the face wouldn't hurt either.
No comments:
Post a Comment