I think one of the biggest misconceptions about parenting some people have is that they seem think you get to pick what flavor of kid you will get. They think you get to pick if your kid will enjoy music, be good at sports, live for sparkle, or whatever.
(There are certainly parents who believe that -- it's not just people who don't have kids. I encountered one parent who thought it at Target a while back. Dude was trying his best to convince his 3 or 4-year old little girl that Barbies are "caca" and "not fun at all." I swear I could hear the Karma Train rolling around the bend and looking to run him over.)
If anybody needs proof that we don't get to pick our kids' personalities, allow me to show you Exhibit A. Her name is Alexis and she was born to love pink, glitter, cheerleading, terrible pop music, and pretty much everything that confuses me.
It's fantastic, by the way. Truly. I might complain endlessly about the hours I spend cleaning up glitter from every crevice of the house while listening to the kid recite cheers, but I actually enjoy it. More accurately, I enjoy how happy it makes Alexis. I also see the humor in knowing the karma train ran my butt over just about nine years ago.
Only time will tell if Mila is going to follow in Alexis' footsteps and exude all things girly or if she will be all tomboy like me.
Buuuuuuuuut ... I think maybe there is a glimmer of hope that Mila won't be a Sparkle Queen. I mean, if you can take 3 minutes of her life and use it to totally and completely predict her future, I AM SO IN LUCK.
Now, just go with me on this, you guys. I need a little bit of hope for tomorrow so I can survive the ridiculous that is the glitter stuck all over my kitchen floor at this very moment. Just pretend these three minutes mean something, ok?
Y'all, Mila totally focused on checking out exactly one toy when she saw this giant pile.
It wasn't the giant Olaf (though, she did like him when I singled him out). It wasn't the princess Lego set. It wasn't any of the Pillow Pets. It wasn't even the Minnie rattle.
The little green tractor in the bottom right. She LOVED that silly little green tractor.
Until toys have genitalia you won't be able to convince me that there are "boy toys" or "girl toys," but that green tractor is probably the least Sparkle Queen thing in that pile.
HOPE! I HAVE HOPE!