WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID

Dec 07, 2020

            When I was a little kid, I was a tomboy. Sure, I loved to draw, but I also lived for baseball and basketball, and I dared any boy who would tell me different.

            My mom and eventually my daughter were both the same way when they were squirts. The three of us…three generations…all wanting to prove ourselves.

            The difference? My mom, who grew up during The Depression, wanted to be a boy. I didn't want to be a boy, but just wanted to play like one, and the rebellious 1960’s were there to encourage me. My daughter, on the other hand, wanted to play like a girl in a boy’s world, the almost 21st Century.

            Super proud to be female, my daughter was fortunate that she had inherited her dad’s classic good looks. Big brown eyes, squared jawline…you know what I mean…double-take attractive.

             Strangers passed her and their eyes immediately glued to her presence, yet she didn’t notice or care. In that sense, she was really like her dad…no ego…so much so that she (and he) blew off compliments about their looks as not important in the big scheme of things.

             So it seems that the kid who wanted to play like a girl in a boy’s world knew all too well that her brains, her creativity and her work ethic were keys to her success, not her appearance. And for that, I always envied her.

             Me? The second born people pleaser, I need to be loved by a million friends. I want to resolve ALL conflicts so EVERYONE will be happy. Naïve? Yes. Insecure? Of course.

             And will that ever change? Probably not. After all, I am an artist who makes products to share…paintings to bring joy to viewers…art that instills pride in collectors. I love to give…no, I LIVE TO GIVE, and always need that smile in return.   

             In the long haul, of the three of us girls, I’m sure my daughter will end up living the fullest life. She just seems to have her head screwed on in the right direction. No wobbledy fidgets. No cranks or cricks. Just focused straight ahead, ignoring compliments and charging on to happiness.

             And the best part? She gave birth to her own two daughters who I can only hope will be just like her.