Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Dear Noah......striking differences in your emotional maturity......compared to your peers.....


becomes so noticeable in specific situations. These are things I try to avoid worrying about and feeling anxious about.......nonetheless things I do think about and wonder how they will play out as you get older and your peers are so much more emotionally ahead of you.

For example....when out school shopping for supplies and backpacks and lunch bags...since you cannot find anything with SONIC on it.....(and I said I could paint one on a plain bag of some kind)....you still gravitate toward the very sweet more "toddler-ish" items. You have twice grabbed a DORA THE EXPLORER lunch bag and I had to tell you while I did not mind if you chose that one.....your peers and other boys might unfortunately make FUN of you for your choice. If you were still homeschooled that bag would be fine....but out in the real world.....it was unfortunately a different story.

SO the second time when we were out looking you found a DIFFERENT Dora The Explorer lunch bag.....and you turned to me and asked me "How about this one mommy? Would kids make fun of me if I took this one to school?"

I felt so bad for you.....and I so wish to avoid all the HYPE and crap that goes along with this big game everyone has to play in life. BUT I told you it was a great bag but yes....unfortunately your peers (especially the other boys) would probably make fun of you if you took that to school. So you put it back on the shelf.

Part of me feels like I am stifling you from being true to yourself... while the other part of me knows I am probably teaching you the ins and outs of being like your peers...and what is socially acceptable for someone your age..etc....but it does not detract from the difficulty of it all.

You have a ways to go yet as you are still emotionally behind the game compared to your peers but you are slowly catching up. It is MY goal you will be more than ready and equal to your peers by the time you are in high school for sure....preferably junior high.

I just wish everyone could truly be themselves in the world and not be subjected to ridicule or judgment so quickly. Even at your age.

I love you Noah.....

Mommy
XOXOX

8 comments:

Melissa said...

Yeah, it is too bad that we have to stifle our kids and even ourselves as an adult. Audrey picked out a brown and pink lunchbox, just plain nothing on it this year.

Osh said...

ah, it just breaks my heart...Noah reminds me so much of my Evan, when Evan was younger...

We had this same conversation years ago over a Big Comfy Couch backpack...

Hugs

kristi said...

It really is a shame that the world is the way it is. TC comes home and tells me "Those boys were mean to me today."

I think young girls are naturally less judgmental about certain things.

Patty said...

Can you get a plain back pack and sew some sort of Sonic Decale to it? Yes, kids can be cruel at times and so can adults.

Angie at Home said...

Yep... kids would probably make fun of his choice.... I recently bought the Hello Kitty lunchbox. I know tomorrow when I go to work, several people will probably arch their eyebrow. But I like it... and so I'm using it.

Drama Mama said...

I understand the dilemma. Miss M checks in with me all the time, nervously asking, "Is this age-appropriate?"

I think, like you, that his sensitivity will be an advantage as he grows older...I know that he's the boy I want MY girls to date!

Wanda said...

This is not new...my kids are in their 40's and we had similar issues back then too.

You are a good mommy and seems to me doing all the right things for Noah.

Love and Hugs
Wanda

Anonymous said...

Hey,

Could you make a custom lunchbox together???? Get a plain one and decorate it with sonic stickers :) Or google : make a custom lunchbox, somebody wrote a whole page about how to use art off the computer to decorate a lunchbox. I enjoyed the post about what Noah will and won't eat.