WHAT?!?! Where did that come from? Moreover, what does it mean?!?! How is my daughter not normal?? Who made her feel this way?? What is going on!!!
So take a deep breath and I calmly respond, "Um, OK honey. What do you mean, 'normal'?"
"I just want to be me. Josie."
"OK... as opposed to what?"
"I just want to be normal. Me. "
Trying to figure out where on earth this came from... I remembered how she has been talking about what she wants to be when she grows up. "Oh, so instead of a doctor or a pastor, you want to be you."
"Yep. I want to be me. I want to be normal."
Alright. So we figured out what she meant... but it led into all sorts of further conversation about how we can be ourselves and do different things... all much deeper than I am sure any 5 year old goes on a given day. But I went there, because I am a mom that has a tendency to over-explain things and this is what I do. As I continually built her up as an individual and explained that we would never want her to be anyone that wasn't her, I was well aware I was talking to soothe my own heart, not hers, and really, both of us were just listening to the sound of my voice and not to much else. I mean, come on, she's five and she's Josie... she is literally just saying what is on her mind at that one moment. But that one moment has haunted me for days. In my trying to psycho-analyze this five year old, I wonder what was at the heart of her statement, "I want to be normal," when truly, there was probably nothing more to it than what she already shared. Sigh.
And on a side note, can I just add that being "normal" is not what our family excels at?? If Josie's desire is to be "normal," she is in for an uphill battle.
Never-mind the question... what is normal?
But how about this question: is this the face of "normal??"
It's all in the translation, isn't it?!
1 comment:
This sounds like the question of a highly intelligent inquiring mind. I know...I lived with one of those for 7 years until she moved out and now lives with her parents! Kaiya still surprises me with the number of questions she can ask on any given day, her observation of the world around her & the depth of her understanding. Don't berate yourself for "overanalyzing." You, as a mom, know that she's asking you these questions for a reason. How many 5-year-olds do you know would ask that sort of question? If she's asking, she wants to know, maybe not always for a serious reason, but for a reason. I think you've done an excellent job so far with Josie. Keep it up and you will have raised a wise, wonderful, caring human being.
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