29
Jul
be yourself.
matthias had been reeeally into creative superhero costumes. last week he was ’super chef’ which included a chef’s hat, sunglasses, superhero cape, and steve’s old cycling gloves. he came to me with tears in his eyes and said the other kids were laughing at him. it broke my heart, but told him in all seriousness, if you are going to be a superhero and wear outfits like this, you’ll have to be strong. it takes courage to be yourself. i know his peers will help smooth out his rough edges and he probably won’t be quite as creative with his outfits soon, but i hope he always has the courage to be himself.
xoxo, lisa
How heartbreaking! It’s terrible the harsh words that can come out of the mouths of children. I hope your son does learn that it is a far better thing in this life to be yourself rather than conform to whatever styles or trends are popular with the majority. It does take courage {what wise words to give your son!} but in the end there is a better chance that he will be much happier with himself & his life if he is just ‘himself’ - cape, chef’s hat & all!.
My daughter, who is now 14, has a plaque in her room that says, “In a world where you can be anything, be yourself.” It’s a gentle reminder and it has served her very well.
I do love that cape! Did you make it?
I’d say that you had just the right words! and I certainly wish I had the courage to go out with a cape and chef’s hat on!
It’s too bad as adults we lose our child like courage….sometimes we forget how to be ourselves.
i love letting my girls dress themselves. they don’t always match or make sense, but it is sooooo cute to see their little personalities shining through their choices. It makes the day more entertaining as well.
I love his cape. he is adorable.
I love your advice!!
I just made my kids super hero capes cause i though Matty’s and the ones Lindsey had made were so adorable! 
I have pics up on my blog right now!
Profound. It’s hard enough that they grow up so fast without the other kids adding to it their loss of innnocence. But it is definitely part of life. I love your wisdom on advising him to be strong. Your little guys are so very special.
Awww. Poor fella! This is a sweet story though. YAY MOM!
It always catches me off guard how cruel children can be to each other…true words…it takes courage to be you.
I really love your blog. I find it very inspiring and a love the happiness I find in each of your posts.
I agree….be yourself. We lost our 4 1/2 year old on June 12th to cancer and he sounds just like your little one, always dressing up and wearing costumes everywhere. He had a superhero costume that he just adored and was very much a cowboy. He never went anywhere without his cowboy hat, boots, belt, button down shirt and blue jeans. I loved every minute of it….too bad kids can be so mean! I hope he sticks with being creative!
that’s great advice, i’ll be sure and use that when the time comes for my girls…thanks
It’s so tough to be a kid. I love what you said to him. And I love that kid.
Lisa~wise advice that I know first hand will build into Matty the abiding knowledge that he is able to be strong in the face of adversity. My Matt has been navigating the world 4 times as long as yours and the issue of being yourself in spite of your peer influence has been one he has had to contend with many times. It is always painful as a mom but I am glad to say he is more characterized by being God’s man in the midst of trying times than he has been known as a friend of the world.
Keep investing; the dividends are amazing to see in adulthood!
What a great piece of advice!
Great advice, Mom! You just made GREAT strides in strengthening his character for his teen years. There is a young girl out there with big imagination and a dress-up closet that will find him very interesting some day.
Recently, I made 22 capes as party favors for the birthday of a young super hero fan, inspired by your Matty.
awww, that is heartbreaking. he seems like a cool kid. That happened to my son too and I dressed up with him and played and we ended up laughing till we peed our pants; some of the nieghborhood kids watched and laughed too, but were still not sure they wanted to join in. It’s interesting to watch the struggles kids go through; they see something different and may think it would be cool but are afraid to be made fun of; so they don’t try it and sometimes join in on making fun of others.
what a great piece of advise! its definitely going into my arsenal
your superhero ROCKS!
Love his costumes!
Perfect advise! I too will hang on to that one. Our son will soon turn 5 and we have just begun to face some of these issues. Go Superheros!
‘you’ll have to be strong. it takes courage to be yourself.’ such great advice . . . for all of us. you’re a sweetie, lisa.