Individuality

As I helped my two little girls get ready for school this morning I was reminded again of their different personalities. One is a tom-boy. She loves to play in the dirt, catch bugs, could care less what her hair looks like, only likes blue jeans and t-shirts, and has holes in the knees of all of her jeans. My other loves to dress up. She loves to pick out her outfits, has a ton of clothes because she ends up with all the hand me downs that her sister won't wear, is very particular (to the point of tears sometimes) about how she wants her hair done that day. She joins her sister in playing in the dirt, but won't touch the bugs. It is so funny the differences in them, yet to try to encourage their differences is hard. They both want all of the attention, so when I say something about one of them, the other wants to be the same so I'll say the same thing. I try to make sure I compliment both on their differences, and this morning as my tom-boy showed me a t-shirt and a skirt and sweater outfit to ask me which she should wear (her sister was wearing a skirt and sweater outfit) I told her to wear the t-shirt because that is what she likes and it's okay to be different. It was much easier when they were younger and didn't really care what they wore, and I'm sure it will only get tougher as they get older. Six and seven is a long way from teenagers, but I can only imagine what the upcoming years will hold.