One person is enough

My most favorite parenting triumph in all of Mila’s five years and 3-ish months of life happened recently.

She told me about an older girl who was teasing her and telling her that she wasn’t cute. (Blasphemy, I know!)

She told me her response to the older girl proudly:

“I don’t care what you say, my mom loves me just the way I am.”

And that might sound cheesy, in the vein of jokes about young awkward men having well-meaning mothers, but it signified a change in Mila‘s growth to me.

From seeing herself as a shadow of a person, believing undoubtedly exactly what the other kids taunted her about, to seeing herself truthfully, as valued, and loved – exactly as I see her.

And all it took was one person who cares and loves her, to encourage her and tell her the truth about herself.

That‘s the benefit of emotional intelligence right there. And if I can learn enough in 9 months of counseling to put Mila’s self growth into action, then I‘m excited for a long future of helping her succeed.

Mila, to me, you will always be worth it.