Point of View

My entire life I've been labeled "The Big Girl." I've always hated that word "big". We all have the elementary school horror stories of the abuse one can suffer at the hand of their peers. No one wants to be different, but let's face it, we're ALL different in one way or another. Leave it to a group of 4th graders to figure out how you're weird and don't fit in to the norm. I'll give you some stats, so you can know how I came to be known as "the big girl". By 4th grade I was already taller than my mom. Hello...5'6", I wore a size 7 shoe, and I was pretty thick. I was way bigger than the average 10 year old. I got a lot of deep, thought provoking questions like this, "How'd ya get so big?!" or this was always a favorite, "Did you flunk or somthin'?" A few darling little boys started a game where they would yell, "Look out! Here comes Big Foot!" when they saw me. So sweet. Then by Junior High, I was 5'10" and wore a size 9 shoe. I guess you could call me a BFG (Big Friendly Giant...you remember that Rohld Dahl book?). Then the questions became, "Do you play basketball?" "You should play basketball because you're so big." To make matter worse, I could never find pants that were long enough. Thank goodness for the Gap (Discovered those jeans as a high schooler. I've never betrayed my favorite brand since.). Then high school. I finally stopped growing when I hit the 6' mark. By this time, I came to hate the word "big". I'm tall. You may refer to me as tall. No, I don't play basketball. No, I've never "flunked" or somethin'. It's rough being that much of an extreme.

Now...fast forward my life 20 something years. I have Raychel, who is tiny, small and perfect. She's thin, lean, and a little on the short side. My dream! What I wouldn't have given to be her size when I was in elementary school. However, my girl is just as sensitive about her size as I always was about my size. Last year in kindergarten, she was called a "baby". Told she couldn't cross the monkey bars because "You're a little baby, and babies can't do that!" Mainly, she's just "too little" according to the all knowing kindergarten class. Then Raychel would start saying things like, "I wish I was big like so-and-so." Of course, this lead to discussions on how we are all perfect just the way we are. Heavenly Father made us all different because it would be so boring if we were all the same. Not to mention, "OF COURSE you can do whatever you want!! Don't let those kids tell you you're a baby! You're stronger than all of them!" Little turds...don't mess with my offspring! This "Big Foot" Mom will take her big foot and kick your butt! That's right, I'll trash talk to a 5 year old.

Sooo...getting to the point of this entry. All of Raychel's friends have lost baby teeth. Raychel was beginning to feel the familiar pain of being the "small/tiny/baby". Let's face it, when our kids are sad, we are sad. We want them to feel like they belong in a group of their peers. Friday, Raychel announced she had a loose tooth. I reached in to her mouth thinking it would be like the other times she claimed to have a loose tooth... just wishful thinking on her part. Not this time! She had a loose tooth, and it was really loose! Here's my confession, I seriously said in my heart, "Thank you Heavenly Father!" Call me silly, but I really felt like that was a tender mercy sent to my Raychel. The Lord knew my girl needed that loose tooth for an ego boost. Later that evening it came out, and she was ecstatic, to say the very least. So, I came to an understanding this weekend. Raychel and I have a lot in common. We both know how it feels to be really different from the norm. She wants to be big and I want(ed) to be small. Thank goodness for tender mercies like Gap jeans and loose teeth to help us feel like we belong!

(PS, I am totally serious about that too.)

The loot. I'm not too sure what the going rate is for teeth these days. Can't go wrong with a $1.