Free Spirit

Each weekday morning I head out of the house by seven a.m., in order to be to school on time for our 7:30 devotions. Before I leave though, I make sure that everything is ready to go for Abby's school day. I pack her lunch, I pack her bag, and I lay out clothes. I want to make sure that I do my part to make the morning go smoothly. I know that there are times when it is tough to get Abby focused and moving, especially when there is a time deadline (like a waiting bus) to deal with.

This system works out on the other end of the day. Jason puts Abby on the bus, but I get to get her off the bus. I realized today that not only do I look forward to seeing Abby because I miss her, I look forward to seeing what she looks like. See, with Abby it is always a surprise.

Even though I lay out clothes for her in the morning, there is no guarantee that that will be what she’s wearing when she appears at the top of the bus’s steps. On Wednesday there wasn’t too much of a surprise, although she was at the point where she was refusing to wear her shoes, but yesterday and today her appearance had me laughing. Yesterday I’d laid out one of her favorite summer dresses, a nice little light blue one with bright pink flowers. We decided that shorts would be a good addition to ensure modesty, so I made sure to put a pair carefully on her dress....But when she walked to the front of the bus I was surprised to see that paired with the dress, were a pair of navy tights that were covered in rainbow polka-dots. My immediate assumption was that  Abby had found them in the morning and Jason had decided that it wasn’t worth the battle. When I asked him about it, he smiled a little smile and said, “Yeah, that’s just how it happened.” It made me wonder who really was behind the polka-dot tights.

This afternoon I had yet another surprise. Abby came moseying on up to the door of the bus wearing the cute pink skirt and striped shirt that I’d picked out - along with her black and red cowboy boots. That’s when I let out a laugh and made the comment to Ms. Cathy that I never knew what I would see when she appeared. She laughed and said, “I’m sure you don’t. I think that Dad lets her be a free spirit and just wants her to be happy.” I most certainly agreed.

The more I thought about what she said, the more I liked it. I think that it is wonderful that Jason loves Abby so much that he will encourage her unique style to shine through. I could learn something from that, because often Abby and I get in battles about what she will wear. Sometimes she wins, sometimes I win, and sometimes we compromise, but I need to remember that often it doesn’t matter - that it is more important for her to be happy and let her free spirit shine through.

Sometimes Abby wins...

Sometimes Mom wins...

And sometimes we compromise.