A Princess

It wasn't my best parenting moment.   We were already late and trying to get out the door.   I was trying to explain to his brother that I wasn't going to pack him another lunch after he had inexplicably gotten up in the middle of the night, taken his carefully packed lunch out of the refrigerator, and left it sitting in the floor.  He wanted a moment of my time, and I didn't feel like I had that moment to give.  I glanced over from tying a shoe and said "You can't take both the Skylanders and the crown for show and tell.  You have to pick one" And then I started grabbing backpacks and looking for my keys and didn't think about it again until the end of the day.

I saw the sheepishly defiant look on his face as he walked towards me at pick up time.   It took little more than a glance to know why--that crown was on his head.  

"Did you bring that crown for show and tell?"
"No.  You told me I had to pick one, so I brought the Skylanders for show and tell and the crown was some of my clothes."
"So, are you a prince or a princess?"
"Don't be silly.  Of course I'm a princess."

His eyes sparkled in challenge, his head held high, his chin so defiantly pointed that I was suddenly overwhelmed with one thought:

That child is Just. Like. Me.

I told him he made a wonderful princess, but we'd have to find out if the crown met the school's 'no hats' guidelines (Maybe it does?  Some of the girls certainly wear hairbows larger than that crown) and then we began walking towards the door.

As usual he had to stop at every single water fountain on our trek, so I found myself waiting by the front door with some of his classmates as he made his way there.   A little boy began telling me about how cool the skylanders were--my son had shared them during recess.  He turned the corner and two older girls began to giggle.  I didn't hear their words, but immediately the boy my son had shared his toys with spoke up.

"STOP IT!  You do NOT make fun of him.   He is nice and he is kind and he is my friend.   So what if he's wearing a princess crown.  He likes it.   What makes it ok for you to wear a princess crown and not him?"

The two girls stared at the angry little boy in stunned silence as my unicorn walked between them, completely oblivious to the drama that had just unfolded.   He told his friend to have a good weekend and asked me if we were having movie night.   I glanced at the girls--they looked confused, as if their entire world had been turned upside down by one defiant seven year old and the brave classmate who took up for him.  I smiled at the boy who made it his business to stand up for what was right.   I told him to have a great weekend as we walked out the door.

I am in awe of my children.  I watch every day as they inspire those around them, as they make them really think about their own views and actions.   How did I get so lucky that I have a 9 year old who can convince an ENTIRE CLASS to read The Hunger Games and watch Dr Who?   A pair of 7 year olds who defy every expectation, whether it is gender roles or interests or academic success, and who manage to turn that defiance into a battle cry to rally other seven year olds who feel like they are different?  And perhaps their biggest inspiration of all--a self involved woman inspired to see the world anew, to work to help others, to be better than she was in an attempt to be worthy of the amazingly powerful souls that have been entrusted to her care.