Childhood Confidence
This week’s writing was one of the hardest to focus on. A favorite picture was needed as the topic. Do you know how many pictures I have from the last thirty-seven-plus years? Each image has its own unique story to tell. My most popular subject has been our son Matthew. Matthew at Halloween, Matthew at the zoo, Matthew just looking adorable. I think you get the picture.
I’ve mentioned my stacks of shoe boxes filled with photographs. I keep saying that I’m going to go through them and sort them by some type of rhyme or reason. The project feels daunting. I wonder if I will live long enough to get a handle on this organizational nightmare.
Kind of like throwing a dart on a map, I finally had to close my eyes and pick out one picture to write about.
The picture is of Matt at age 2 1/2. He is wearing his “American College” sweater and I thought he looked downright handsome.
He has his head back and he is laughing out loud. I loved that laugh and the confidence he portrayed at that young age. He loved to pose for me and this picture was no exception. I only wish I could remember the reason that we were posing for pictures on this particular day. My guess is there was no reason. I simply felt it would be a keeper and I was right.
I never thought our son would be so darned cute. I should have known since his Dad was handsome and I like to think that I was OK looking too, that he would be a handsome guy. The picture has always confirmed my belief that Matt would go on to college. He looked very at home in his early college sweater.
I think that when our children are at this age, they are so perfect. They haven’t yet developed biases or judgments about life or the people they know. They simply take life a day at a time and live it to the fullest. I think I’ll keep this photo handy to remind me of the positive beginning Matt had in his personality development. Everything from this point on seems to be developed by peers, teachers, various friends, and not always the people I would have picked to help develop his personality.
To Matt, I would say. “Remember back to the beauty of feeling that you were enough and had everything you needed to be anything in the world you could choose to be. There is not an ounce of self-consciousness in this face or anxiety in this handsome body. You are still that perfect person. Own it!
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