i like myself

I picked up a book for Tagg the other day at Barnes & Noble - I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont. I liked the title. The illustration was darling. And I like to shop at real bookstores. I'm old fashioned that way.

I read it to Tagg tonight and it was such a lovely story. A happy rhyming tale of accepting and celebrating yourself - when you're fast or when you're slow, no matter how you look or what you do, regardless of what others think of you. Obviously a great message for children, especially when they enter school and have to deal with all of the challenges of social acceptance, bullies, cliques, names. How did we ever survive?

I heard a singer on a kids' radio program the other day. He was doing a sing-a-long with parents and children and he asked, "How many of you can sing?" Every single child's hand shot up in the air, and not one adult raised their hand. "How funny," he mused. "How is that every kid in the room can sing and not one parent can." I think it's sad, but I know my hand would have been firmly glued to my side.

And then I started thinking about adult me, and how I wish someone would tell me all of these great things about myself every day. That I wish I really and truly liked myself. That when I look in the mirror I didn't wish I had a smaller butt, perfect skin, better legs, different hair. I wish I didn't think I should be a better friend, a better wife, a better parent, a better employee, a faster runner. I should get involved with a charity, clean that storage room, finish my book, dust under the fridge, plant my own garden, paint the hallway, detail the car, hand-make some toys for the kids...seriously! When does it end? When did this begin?

I would love to celebrate all of the things that make me, well...me. I want to enjoy all of my features, flaws, quirks and cool shit, not wish them away. I think I'm going to read this book a lot. As much for me as for Tagg and Sloane. And it might become my new favorite birthday present for my girls. Seems like the perfect gift.