Appreciating Our Differences

It is so fascinating to look at my three children and to see how different they really are. They have the same parents and the same environment but they truly are different people. This became glaringly obvious to me during our trip to San Diego. All three of them are fiercely independent, but it shows in different ways. Alina cracks me up. She has decided that the reason there were things she was unable to do was because she wasn't five yet and now that she's five she is unafraid. We took her on the river raft ride at Sea World...which in hind-site was not smart in cold weather. Izabella was clearly afraid and sort of miserable. Alina could have easily gone again. In fact Izabella was cold after that ride and wanted to go back to our hotel. Alina, was fine with the cold..she just wanted to ride rides. She ahs also decided that it was her age preventing her from swimming like a pro and now that she's five I should let her go in the deep water on her own.

Jasz is a little imp. He has a twinkle in his eye that betrays the joker in him. We went to the hot tub and he is too young to sit in the boiling water. So I sat him on the edge and held his legs from within the tub. He calls, "Mama" to get my attention. As soon as I turned my head to see what he wanted he splashed water in my face and then cracked up. What a stinker!! Everything is one big gag to him right now...you can see by watching him...he is just waiting for the next opportunity to "get" someone.

Izabella is my girl of extremes. She feels every feeling to the max. She also feels other people's feelings. She worried the whole trip about my sister..wanting to make sure she was okay. She brought her stuffed animals so Julie would not have to sleep alone. Just the thoughtfulness and caring in those small actions spoke volumes as to the type of person Izabella is becoming.

Sometimes as a parent it's tempting to ask why one child doesn't behave well like another child. But outside of the situation I am glad that none of them behave the same way. God has given them each gifts and they each have a purpose. Thank God we are not all the same...how boring that would be!!!