I took dance for a few years when I was young. I didn't hate it. However, I didn't love it. Then one year, my mom signed me up for the notorious blue-and-yellow-jersey soccer league, and I was hooked. From then on, I was always involved in either soccer or basketball until my sophomore year of high school. Unfortunately, I was too intimidated of the stupid soccer and basketball tryouts in high school to try and play. Dang teenage self-confidence! But that's another story....the point is, I've always leaned towards the "tom-boy" side of life.
Fast forward about then years to my first pregnancy and first ultrasound when we found out Navi was a girl. Unlike many other moms, I didn't rush out and fill her nursery with pink bedding and flowers. As usual, I went the other direction - blue. (well, turquoise if you want to get specific) But I also didn't buy too many pink outfits either. In fact, when faced with a shirt or outfit with two color choices, 99% of the time I'd purposely pick the one with less pink. I don't really know why. I can't recall any embarrassing childhood memories of being dressed head to toe in pink frilly dresses...
For whatever reason, I have even steered away from most the "girly" toys with Navi as well. For example, when my mother-in-law asked me if she should get the princess "Little People" castle for Navi's first birthday, I told her I'd prefer the farm set. Again, I don't have anything against princesses, in fact the Disney princess movies are some of my favorites to this day! I just think that subconsciously, I was trying to avoid raising a stereo-typical toddler with pink tutu and princess crown.
I've even gone as far as having discussions with Nate, arguing that the only way I would put one of our girls in a dance class, is if they were horribly uncoordinated and needed to learn some balance to help them play other sports. He, of course, just laughs and jokingly responds that there isn't a chance that any of his kids will be athletically challenged. Let's hope we haven't jinxed ourselves...
So you might be shocked to learn that in the last little while, I'm absolutely loving seeing Navi's girly personality start to show through. Somehow (no thanks to me), she is becoming quite the girly girl! It just goes to show that kids are wired with their own likes and dislikes.(or maybe she's beginning to realize the girly world I've been protecting her from)
Some of her girly quirks that I love:
-she makes me laugh on a daily basis because not a day goes by that she doesn't ask me to "paint my fingernails pretty" or at least show me her "pretty nails". Even if 9 out of 10 nails are chipped and there's barely a spec of polish left, she still thinks they are pretty.
-she gets so happy when I put a dress on her and exclaims, "Yay! My pretty dress! Thanks mom!" (usually twirling at the same time)
-she always wants to wear a bracelet and gets upset if I put one on Trevi but not her
-she found a shopping bag of lotion I had just bought, opened it up, and grabbed two bottles of lotion hugging them and exclaiming, "Oh, thank you mommy!"
-she LOVES her cousin's dress up clothes and especially the fancy "high heels" she got for her birthday
-if she ever catches me putting on chapstick, she demands that she has to have "stick-stick" too
-I rarely paint my toenails and when I do, the polish usually stays on until it's all chipped off before I will paint them again. So one day after I had gotten a manicure and pedicure gift certificate I came home and Navi walked by, did a literal double take at my toe nails, and then said, "Oh! Cute toes mom!"
-and of course, her favorite colors are pink and purple!
Let's just say I'm eating my words and I'm pretty sure I will be writing a check for dance lessons much sooner than I expected....
