The kids made their list of preferred toys (no more than three, because Jesus only got three, and hello, he’s Jesus and it’s HIS holiday!) including a scooter. Now of course, both children received one for Christmas, and they’ve since scooted up and down the halls, to pick up packages at the office, to check the mail.  I’ve even caught them scooting with one foot on the scooter, and the other on a roller skate. (Yes, I know it’s dangerous, you don’t need to tell me, it’s not something *I* suggested they do,
they’re just 7, and I’m sure it sounded like a good idea at the time.)

I was quite tickled when LM came home from school the other day. The conversation went like this:

Little Me: “I told my friends I got a Razor for Christmas!”
Me: “Awesome! What’d they say?”
LM: “They said “Wow! A Razor! Did you get an electric one?” and I said “Noooooo”. They said “Did you get one that writes behind you in chalk while you roll down the street?” And I said “Nooooo”. I told them “it just scoots, and you have to use your feet to make it go.”

I was instantly transported back to my childhood, visions of Fred Flintstone dancing through my head.  “And? Then what did you say?” I asked her. I was a bit worried that the scooter she loved last night would be old news today, just because her friends thought so. I shouldn’t have worried. She said she told them she loved it, and it was purple, and lots of fun.  I’m proud of her. She didn’t let their “Oh you mean it’s not the super duper one, it’s just a plain one?” get to her. She just likes her toy, the way it is. Isn’t that what matters? Not that a toy plugs in, or that it writes behind you when you scoot (Hello? Who looks behind them when they’re going forward anyway?), but just that it’s fun, and she likes to hop on, and yes, ride up and down the hall in our home on rainy days, or when it’s dark outside.

These days the twins are learning a lot about who they are, and about being confident in their likes, even if no one else likes it. The other day we spent an hour in a store when LM had a gift card, because she couldn’t pick out a shirt she wanted. It’s not that there wasn’t anything there for girls–the whole store was for girls! She just couldn’t discern between what she liked, versus what she thought her friends would like.  She touched everything in the store, and told me several times she wanted “style”, like so-and-so, because they dress “stylishly” every day. We ended up leaving the store with nothing, a valuable lesson for her, in that if you like something, like it because YOU like it, not because you think someone else will. That’s what makes us individual and unique in this world, and what will help her make right decisions as a teenager.

She’s a ways off from hitting those teen years, and yes, still learning. I’m proud of her for liking her scooter, for being grateful for it, in all its plain-ness, and for continuing to love it, even if it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles her friends’ scooters may have. Maybe, just maybe, the lessons she has now in making right decisions and being her true self will be a strong foundation to withstand even the toughest peer pressure.

That and lots of prayer from me. Definitely, lots of prayer.