Once upon a time, there was a girl. She tended to have very emotional reactions.
It was nothing against the people around her.
Sometimes she tended to come across as blunt (or as her husband puts it, passionately blunt) in her opinions, of which she had many.
It meant that she felt misunderstood at times, though she never wished she was different. She was passionate, caring and strong. And always strived to do better. To be better.
She had the courage to change and always stood out from the crowd, especially when that crowd was family.
That’s a good thing, now, isn’t it?
Who wants to fit the cookie cutter mold anyways?
When she heard about people being upset due to her opinions, it never felt nice. She never wished that to happen. But most of the time, how other people react to things, actions, opinions, is no one’s problem other than their own.
Take for example, an interaction between the girl and her husband last weekend:
Girl is standing in her kitchen, next to a spilled bowl of the dog’s water (caused by a crying pre-schooler), trying to keep her maniacal toddler out of a mess of salmon oil (that he made) while lunch burns on the stove.
Girl [Calling up the stairs]: “Husband! What are you doing up there?”
Husband [Yelling, aggravated]: “Can’t a guy go to the bathroom in peace?”
Girl [Frustrated, because all she wanted was a little help and didn’t know that Husband was taking his daily 20-minute poop]: “Of course you can! I just needed some help, it’s fine.”
Her frustration in this situation didn’t have anything to do with her husband. It was most entirely child-induced, being that the pre-schooler had rushed to beat his brother to feed the dog, spilling the dog’s water in the process and leaving the cupboard where the dog food is open for the toddler to grab the dog’s salmon oil and food. It was also in that moment that said toddler decided to learn how to express a pump, and pushed firmly down onto the plunger, spraying salmon oil across the kitchen where his mother stood, bewildered.
She activated her super mom instincts (found in every mom, everywhere) and cleaned the shit up, kept lunch from burning and helped everyone stop crying. Later, she explained to her husband that it was nothing against him that he wasn’t able to help with the mess earlier, she was just curious as to what he was doing and wanted to know if he was in any position to help her. It was fine that he was not and he understood that she meant no ill-feelings towards him.
This is not unlike many interactions the girl finds herself in.
Expressing care for her children, for herself and the ones she loves. Wanting to avoid gossip and stand up for those that are not there to defend themselves.
She states her opinions firmly. Not in an unkind way, but not on a fluffy cloud floating above the rainbows either.
She is unabashedly herself.
Unapologetic.
Unique.
Embracing the emotional reactions,
Anya