Sons and Daughters

    I began my day wondering what I might blog about today.  It was anyone's guess really.  Sunday night I spent a half hour or so painting Riley's nails.  I painted them green, then used my special thin brush nail polish I painted monster faces on them.  It was lots of fun.  Today Elly wanted her nails to look like lady bugs.  That's it... I will blog about painting Elly's nails to look like lady bugs.  I took pictures of each step (you know that way people could copy me).  Then I looked at the finished product and felt a little silly.  Elly LOVES them!  Do they look like something I should do a step -by- stop of ... NO.  She's 3, she doesn't like to sit still.  Really it's a miracle that she sat as long as she did without touching her nails.

    I started by painting her nails with red nail polish.  

Then I took my thin brush and ran a curved line down the middle, 

and a thin line at the bottom of the nail.

Then I ran a high light of white nail polish.

Now the tricky part.  I did the dots.  She had a hard time at this point sitting still, 

so the dots look a little more like lines than dots.

I finished them by putting a clear coat of nail polish over the top.  She walked away feeling very proud of herself.  Are they picture worthy, not really, but she loves them.

    So I was thinking about having three girls, and what a gift they are.  Then I thought that does a disservice to my boys.  My boys are a gift too, just a different.  It then got me to thinking about my relationship with my girls and how in some ways it is so different from my relationship with my boys.

    My girls are /were a little bit like my living Barbie dolls.  Gracie is now starting to rebel against this.  I loved to do their hair pretty.  I love to do their nails pretty.  There comes a point (Gracie is now at this point) where they want to make decisions for themselves.  Who am I kidding, Riley was at that point at birth.  I like to do her hair pretty and she gets impatient with me "Just a pony MOM!"  "But what if I did something pretty with your pony?"  "JUST A PONY!"  They are beginning to build their self image on the inside and consequently on the outside.  I need to remind myself not to take it personally.  Some days it is like my mantra "don't take it personally, ohm-mm, they are just growing, ohm-mm, don't take it personally, ohm-mm, they are just growing ohm-mm."  It is difficult to not get hurt feelings when they don't like what I like for them.  They want to be separate from me, to show me that they are different from me.  I need to think of this as the gateway to their teenage years (God Help ME).    This is all easier said than done.  I need to give them enough space to grow, but not too much so that they grow wild.

    My boys are different.  Our relationships are different.  Rowan still lets me dress him.  He doesn't care, it's easier for him if I pick out his clothes.  Sometimes I will catch him giving me that look of love (with the girls it's usually the look of disgust I get).  Our bond is more tender.  I need to remember that I am stamping his image right now with what his definition of a woman will be when he is grown.  I hope he finds a woman who is strong, but not too strong.  Someone who nurtures him, but doesn't smother him.  Mostly I want him to find a person who will make him happy, and make him feel like he is blessed every day of his life.  I hope that I give him a positive imprint of what a woman is.  

    All this from simple nail polish.  Maybe I think about things too much.