He Is Who He Is

One of my favorite things about these past few months has been seeing LJ’s little personality come out. He’s very much entered the stage where he knows what he wants, what he wants to do, and what he wants things called.

They are Crocs, not shoes, Mom.

Excuse me, Sir LJ, I did not know I was committing such an egregious offense by calling them shoes.

Goldfish are fish, Cheez Its are square crackers, Ritz are circle crackers, and lemonade is “meyade”…in case you didn’t know.

With this little personality, it’s so fun to see more of myself come out in him. He’s always looked so much like his Daddy, that it has made me a little sad to not see much of me in him. Now, just have him open his mouth and out I come flying!

This morning I got a new activity all set up for him. Finger painting.

To say that LJ doesn’t like to be dirty would be an understatement. He’s more anal about being clean than I am. He asks to take baths all the time. Any speck of sauce/dirt/whatever on his hands or face leads to immediate panic and frantic searching for a towel.

Mud wrestler he will not be.

Hoping against all hope, I was praying that finger painting might actually be something he could get into. He loves to paint with a brush and was really excited about making a picture for Grammy (my grandmother) for her birthday tonight. Please, oh please, do not be OCD boy and stick your little hands in that paint!

Yes, I was actually hoping my child would get dirty. Strange, but true.

What 3 year old finger paints with ONE finger dipped in ONE color at a time, then wipes it off between colors???? Mine.

After about 10 minutes and more paint on the paper towel than on the paper, he was over it. The child asked to go wash his hands.

Despite all my telling him it was ok to get messy, it’s no big deal there’s paint on your finger, that’s how you are supposed to do it, he just didn’t care.

And I LOVE that about him! He’s never one to join in the mess making even if everyone else is doing it, and he will certainly not follow his friends into the mud pit. He knows what he likes, he knows what he doesn’t, and no one is going to make him do otherwise. Not even his momma.

I can only hope to teach him how to use this resolve in the future. That he doesn’t have to do stupid teenage junk just cause his friends are. That it’s OK to make your own choices and not follow just cause everyone else is. That your 3 year old self had it right all along.

That it’s ok to paint with a brush instead of your fingers.


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