That is SO You!

You've heard that phrase before, right? Maybe used it yourself? I think it's usually uttered in the confines of a dressing room, but I believe it is appropriate within the context of the following story as well. I had a conversation with Peyton yesterday in which I thought, "That is SO you" not once but twice!

Peyton will be seven years old in May. SEVEN! Now, there are certain things you just feel a soon-to-be seven-year-old should be able to do for him/herself, correct? For my part, I expect a child of six to be able to dress herself, make her own bed, fix her own breakfast (when warranted), brush her own teeth, put away her own laundry . . . you get the idea. And Peyton can do all of those things and more (though sometimes she needs a little prodding with the laundry!). What Peyton could NOT do, until yesterday, was tie her own shoes. And this caused a certain amount of consternation on the part of both myself and her dad because we both felt Peyton was entirely capable of tying her shoelaces, but she lacked the desire. And for anyone who knows Peyton, that should come as little or no surprise. Peyton rather relishes in being doted on and taken care of--and who wouldn't?--and that feeling extends right down to her feet!

Peyton did not see any need to learn to tie her shoelaces when she had four other people in the house who could do it for her (and to be honest, I was beginning to think SAWYER would be able to tie his shoes before she could, the smarty-pants!), and she would blithely brush off our attempts to teach her with an airy, "I guess it's just too hard for me." Grrrr.

Okay, I know that my priorities occasionally get a little out of whack, and this was clearly an area I needed to address. Sure, I taught the girl how to READ, for crying out loud, and how to use the bathroom (aren't those things more important, after all??!), but for a girl approaching seven to be unable to tie her own shoes? What would people think????? :-)

So yesterday, I decided enough was enough and set out to teach Peyton, once and for all, how to tie a bow in those shoestrings! And I have to confess, she really did have one of those "lightbulb" moments where I could see in her eyes that she finally TRULY understood the process and when she did, she was TRIUMPHANT! Who knows? Maybe she really wasn't ready the previous hundred times we walked her through the steps. But I think her comment yesterday after her tenth or twelfth time of tying a bow successfully is very telling and representative of just how important learning to tie her shoes was to Peyton: "It's a good thing I learned how to tie my shoes--now my husband won't have to do it for me." YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, Peyton would have happily danced her way through adolescence, the teen years and into early adulthood without a care as long as there was always somebody who could tie her shoes for her! That is SO Peyton!

Later as I was chopping vegetables for supper and she sat at the bar practicing her bows, I said, "Isn't it nice to be able to do things for yourself?" Her reply: "Uh-huh . . . and for others." Awwwwwww! And yet, that is so Peyton!