Be Brave

Last night I was helping Mason with a school project. He is Star of the Week in his class next week so we had to make an “All about Me” poster and fill out a questionnaire of some of his favorite things. We got to the question of What's your favorite sport? He said “WWE is a sport, right?” Then he went on to write “football”. I told him both were sports and that he is really smart about football. A few questions down it asked Who do you admire most? I thought I had it figured out, but he didn't say anything, he just wrote “Papa Steve” and I asked him why he chose him, and he said “cause he makes sure everyone is safe, like when I drove the golf cart on the wrong side of the road” and I said “Okay, I thought you'd say something else, but that's fine.” He erased it and simply put “Grandpa”. AND THEN, (here comes the point of my story) He said “well, I had a different one but it sounds dumb”. I promised I wouldn't think it was dumb if he told me and he said “John Cena...but everyone will laugh at that”. Then he went on to tell me about kids noticing and commenting (neither good, nor bad) when he wears a John Cena shirt and he didn't like everyone talking about his shirt, so he just wanted to put Grandpa because that's what everyone else did and they won't laugh at that. Now, I'm not saying that John Cena should be admired more than Papa Steve or any Grandpa, but changing your mind for the sake of keeping your classmates happy made me sad and bothered.

I don't want my kid (or any kid) to surrender to normal, when the normal is boring. To be plain and do/say what everyone else does/says just to avoid ruffling a few feathers. I want them to be bold and be brave even if it goes against the norm. I want them to admire whomever they wish, and wear whatever they find fitting. And I want to teach them that's it okay for others to do the same. But he's 8, so I let him keep him answers and told him someday you'll realize that it's better to say what you mean and be yourself rather than trying to be like everybody else.

I'm sure a time will come where John Cena will not be the ruler of his universe, but after our chat, if someone comments negatively about his shirt, he will tell them “That's okay if you don't like it but I do”.