Sophie

Sophie has always been her own person.  She's spirited, feisty and creative.  And she always knows what she wants.  When she was younger, she rarely cared about what others thought.  She seemed to know when she needed to compromise with her friends so they could usually play nicely together but she also knew when it was important that she stay true to herself.  She wore what she wanted and liked what she liked, regardless of what others thought.  This year, after she started kindergarten, I noticed that slowly starting to change.  She started asking if I thought her friends would like her outfit.  Or if her friends would like her book.  Or if her friends still watched the Backyardigans.  And this scared me.  I've always loved that Sophie was so confident.   I didn't want this to change as she tried to get girls to like her who weren't particularly nice to her.  My super confident little girl would cry because the other girls wouldn't play with her.  She didn't want to take certain things in her lunch box because someone wouldn't sit beside her.  The influence of peers was strong.

But then I picked the kids up from daycare this week and there, in the midst of a class of kids who made power ranger masks, was Sophie.  She was the only one not wearing a mask.  She had a big paper bow in her hair and a cat tail that she had glued together.  She was dancing in the middle of the room, unaware of everyone else, very proud of her handmade costume.  And right then I knew Sophie would be okay.  The little girl who I was scared was getting lost in the Kindergarten shuffle was as confident as ever.  Her spirit was still there.  It was just hidden for a little bit.