The day has come for Grandma and Granddad to go home. It's been a great visit, with lots of fun excursions and memories made (photos to come over the next few days). We were nervous about how Emma would handle their leaving and left it until lunch time to broach the subject.
She was handling it well, asking if they would be coming back etc. All good.
So it came as a complete ambush when Emma hit me with the question I'd dreaded but not expected.
Emma had asked to look in the mirror in our room before going potty. I'd just finished washing the dishes and we were making final preparations for the trip to the airport. As Emma joined me in the bathroom, she let out the words...
"Mom, when I smile my face doesn't go up at the sides - see!"
I really shouldn't have been so surprised. Emma spends ages in front of every mirror she comes across, and seeks others out! She loves to dance and talk and generally perform in front of a mirror, anywhere.
I was surprisingly calm and asked her to show me in the mirror. We both smiled at our reflections. Emma kept pushing the corners of her mouth up and telling me to look.
I asked her to stop for a minute and just smile. As she did I pulled her close, cheek to cheek and told her that her smile is different, but it is just a special smile. I also explained that I know she is smiling and her smile makes me so happy.
It really does. Every time Emma smiles her upside down smile it is like seeing a miracle, each and every time. It may not be a conventional smile, but it is clear, expressive and apparently not possible!
We have done our best to instill a self-awareness in Emma, and an assurance that she is beautiful inside and out. As she becomes more aware of her uniqueness, we will continue to use the truth of God's word, that all are created in God's own image, beautiful and glorious in His sight.
The opinions of others (than God) are inconsequential, because it is God who formed us, loves us and can see the beauty on the inside.
She was handling it well, asking if they would be coming back etc. All good.
So it came as a complete ambush when Emma hit me with the question I'd dreaded but not expected.
Emma had asked to look in the mirror in our room before going potty. I'd just finished washing the dishes and we were making final preparations for the trip to the airport. As Emma joined me in the bathroom, she let out the words...
"Mom, when I smile my face doesn't go up at the sides - see!"
I really shouldn't have been so surprised. Emma spends ages in front of every mirror she comes across, and seeks others out! She loves to dance and talk and generally perform in front of a mirror, anywhere.
I was surprisingly calm and asked her to show me in the mirror. We both smiled at our reflections. Emma kept pushing the corners of her mouth up and telling me to look.
I asked her to stop for a minute and just smile. As she did I pulled her close, cheek to cheek and told her that her smile is different, but it is just a special smile. I also explained that I know she is smiling and her smile makes me so happy.
It really does. Every time Emma smiles her upside down smile it is like seeing a miracle, each and every time. It may not be a conventional smile, but it is clear, expressive and apparently not possible!
We have done our best to instill a self-awareness in Emma, and an assurance that she is beautiful inside and out. As she becomes more aware of her uniqueness, we will continue to use the truth of God's word, that all are created in God's own image, beautiful and glorious in His sight.
The opinions of others (than God) are inconsequential, because it is God who formed us, loves us and can see the beauty on the inside.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
Psalm 139: 13-14
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