My daughter asks me “Why? all the time.
Antoinette take off your shoes?
Why?
What’s your name?
Why?
Pick up the book please.
Why?
It’s a one-word question she learned from me. As she is growing up, she displays a personality that is very similar to mine: strong-willed, stubborn, sure of herself.
Her ‘why’ questions always make me laugh. Because they are asked in the most unexpected circumstances. One time, her “why?”caught me off guard. I was on my wit’s end, pissed about not being in Cebu and have someone to fold clean clothes for me when I told her to please just leave me alone.
Her response?
Why?
Well, I said, I’m not really feeling very friendly right now.
Why?
Because I want my Mommy!
And then I cried…
She gave me that classic Antoinette grimace, hugged her Pooh bear, and walked out of my room saying: “Goodbye.”
Yes, I have episodes like that and sometimes, I take it out to my children. Not a very mature thing to do, huh?
Antoinette is not an affectionate child but she is VERY sensitive.
She knows when I’m upset. She knows when I’m not in the mood for cuddling. She knows when I’m up for games.
She loves her crayons and her coloring book. She is left-handed based on the way she holds her crayons and her pencils. She loves to doodle; she even uses her own skin as her canvass! By the looks of it, she is developing to be an artist. Perhaps like her Aunt Mary (Jeff’s older sister who is a very gifted painter) or her Uncle Hendrix (my architect brother who also paints and draws).
In a lot of ways, I see myself in her.
When it’s her first time to meet you, don’t expect a smile or a hug. She will stare at you, examine every thread of your cardigan, and size up the content of your bank account should you have any ill-gotten or unexplained wealth.
She is that meticulous!
And probably why she asks a lot of “whys” these days.
Because that’s just how she is: careful, observant, inquisitive.
I have a lot of people comparing her to Nicholas – and while I want to be polite most of the time, I abhor people who do comparisons. Because…for crying out loud! These two are nothing but the same. They didn’t even share one sac in my womb. And let me just remind you…they do not even the share the same sex (not that it’s justifiable to compare identical twins or fraternal twins who are both boys or both girls). They are two completely different individuals with their own unique personalities.
While I’m seeing a lot of myself in her, Antoinette will grow to be her own person. She will grow to be a beautiful person with her own viewpoint of the world she lives in. She will explore the world and make her own adventures. Heck, she might even climb steeper mountains more than I did!
So she doesn’t smile that often; she whines a lot; she hates hair accessories and any attempt I make to style her hair. She likes to just let that few strands of hair down and I cannot argue with her.
She can be Miss Humpy Grumpy.
And that’s okay.
Because she is…Antoinette.
I won’t force her to be someone else.
She will be a much better version of herself as she grows up; a version that she is happy and comfortable with.
And by that time I see her evolve and become that version of herself, I won’t be asking the “why” question.
Why? Because I will know exactly why she turned out to be adventurous, amazing, awesome.
Because she is comfortable in her own skin. Free from any worries that her family will judge her because she doesn’t smile that often or hates to comb her hair.
She will be loved as much as she is loved today.
***
T30WC or The 30-minute Writing Challenge is a writing exercise born out of this blogger’s need to maintain a habit of writing. Subjects of each writing challenge is just about anything but should ONLY be written within 30 minutes.
