Friday, March 13, 2009

A lesson learned from Anna

Anna is an amazing daughter and she taught me an important lesson last night. A lesson that I have always (still to this day) struggled with. It might me a long story, so bear with me because it's worth it.
Anna found a pair of my shoes that I hadn't worn for a long time and thought they were cute. I warned her that they would be too big for her since I had gotten them while I was pregnant with Kate (I get big pregnant feet!). In fact, they're too big for me now which is why they hadn't been worn in a while. She tried them on anyway and confirmed my suspicion that they were indeed too big. But being the nice mother that I am, I told her that we could hold onto them for a little while to see if her feet grow anymore. But then I added "Lets hope, for your sake though, that you don't grow into them because I've always hated having big feet." To that she replied "Why? It's our differences that make us special. If everyone were the same, we wouldn't have anything to make us special."
Here is my daughter, who will be 13 next week, telling me that my big feet make me special. My daughter, who is at that age where most girls are self-conscious and too worried about everything to feel that they are special, knows that she is. I'm the mother, I should be the one teaching this to her, but it's something that I still have a hard time believing myself.
How can I feel that my differences make me special if I have a long list of things that I hate about myself... my big feet, crocked smile (from half of my face being paralyzed when I had Lyme disease), bad hair (the back went curly when I had Kate but the front stayed straight), extra weight, lack of fashion, shyness, bad teeth, bad posture, and my list could go on and on. I struggle with feeling that I'm not good enough or special.
So, thank you Anna, for the lesson you taught me. You are a beautiful girl and I love you. I need to follow your example and be more comfortable with who I am. I am a daughter of God, I know that he loves me for who I am, and I know that that makes me special. I need to remember these simple words from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf "As spirit daughters of our Heavenly Father, happiness is your heritage." Remember- your differences make you special!

7 comments:

The Burila Bunch said...

That is why God gives us amazing children. I also am learning lessons from my kids. Thanks for sharing such a personal experience, that we all can learn from. Anna is amazing, like her mom.

Nick and Lisa said...

You are raising an amazing girl! She is such a sweet heart with a great look on life.! Thanks for sharing your experience! It made me stop and think about the silly things I pick at myself for. You are a wonderful person with lots of talents and a heart of gold!

Judy said...

She is my precious,first granddaughter and I love her so much! Mom

Alicia said...

Ditto to what Samantha said, thanks for sharing that with us. We all have things about ourselves that we dislike. Anna is an awesome girl, and she gets those qualities from you!!

Aubrey Jane said...

She's a keeper! Big feet and all!

Cindy said...

Anna is such a great girl, and I feel so much better about the size 10 running shoes I just bought (they were sized weird, I normally wear a size 9 or 9 1/2, really!)
By the way, I think you are an awesome woman too!

Arlene said...

What a sweet daughter! You're an awesome mom!!