Is Your Child a Square Peg?

If the answer is yes... you won the lottery!  You might not believe me, but it's really true.  This child of yours comes bearing gifts.  To begin with, hello patience... hello acceptance.  Because, what other choice do you have?  You can try to CHANGE them, but that's not why they're here.  They're not even here to CHANGE YOU!  They are here to be themselves, in whatever form that takes... and guess what?  THAT IS CHANGING THE WORLD.

Look, I know you probably worry so much about all the 'terrible toos.'  They're too emotional, too loud, too opinionated, too obstinate, too slow, too fast, too awkward, too sensitive, too smart, too unorganized, too talkative, too exhausting, too honest, too hyper, too lazy, too difficult, too MUCH!  Do you wanna know why?  Because we are asking these square pegs to fit into round holes and THEY CANNOT.  They can't.  They won't.  

It is out of their true integrity to be something that they are not.  We are asking them to fit into school structures that do not work for them.   We are asking them to ignore their screens when it's the most stimulating interaction of their lives.  We are asking them to ignore their sexuality or their gender identification to make the older generation comfortable.  We are asking them to keep doing things the old way.... and the young never, never, never do that.  Especially not this crowd of misfits.  This is the first generation of 'different kids' to KNOW that they will run the world.  They are highly intelligent, intuitive, and well informed.  Remember what an insult it was to be called a 'nerd' in the 80s?  Now there's a thing called 'nerd culture!' They care about all the things we never want to think about.  They care about mental health.  They care about the Earth.  They care about true equality.  They care about authenticity.  They care about doing work they LOVE rather than finding work that makes a living... they want to make a LIFE.  They insist on it.

In their youth, they are still struggling to put all the pieces together... how to love themselves and BE themselves while also navigating how to fit in enough that their mental health doesn't deteriorate.  They are often working harder than any other kid in the room and they are often the least celebrated. 

Here's where you come in.  YOU remember their value.  YOU remember their worth.  YOU tell them about it all the time.  You remind them that their differences are their greatest assets.  You teach them that their self-doubt is nothing more than their internal guidance saying 'you just forgot who you are for a second.'  You reassure them that their mistakes are easily forgotten.  You demonstrate how they can love themselves BY LOVING YOURSELF.  No influencer on the planet makes a greater impact than a parent.  Plus, (and here's the biggest newsflash of all) as SOON as you FULLY ACCEPT your square peg exactly as they are... you show the world how to make room for every kind of person.  

Can you see the great changes happening in the world?  Depending on what you are focussing on, you might be seeing a world that is going to hell in a hand basket.  But that's not what I'm seeing.  I'm talking to kids and you know what?  They GET it.  I'm telling you, good things are happening.  Stop apologizing for your weird kid and start celebrating them.  If you've got one, you've got a front row seat to everything you've been wishing this world could be.  Congratulations!