Building a Person

Raising a child can be incredibly rewarding. I'm guessing I'm not the first person to make this particular observation.

When kids are babies, you're with them all the time, so to the extent that they actually have personalities at that age, you pretty much know what that personality is. But there are things you can never know without some sort of independent verification, like how they act when you are not with them. You may be able to answer the question "is my child a good kid?" but you can not answer the question "is my child a good friend?". Only a friend can answer that.

So when you send them off to preshool or nursery school, you are really getting your first "report card" on how well you are doing as a parent, and whether you a building a "good" person.

The reason for this post is that we got a little indication that Buggins is becoming just the type of person we have been working to help her become. The indication came in the form of a very simple picture, taken by her pre-school teacher.

I'll set the stage:

A little boy, we'll call him "Andrew" (primarily because that's his name), was looking out the window at school, being reflective and pondering God knows what. Buggins saw him, and walked up next to him, put her arm around him, and looked out the window too. She didn't say a word; she just let him know she was there, and that they didn't have to speak - she just wanted to look out the window too.

The teacher had the camera in her hand, and managed to get a shot of it:



This is actually a picture of the picture.

Please ignore the fact that her Se.same Street diaper is riding all the way up her back. That's actually how all the cool kids are wearing their diapers now - how high you let it ride signals which gang you roll with - she's with the "Crayola Crips".

And that's good, because the Crayola Crips are known for being good and loyal friends - unlike those "Playdough Punks".