Tomboys

I took my girly girl for granted.

I assumed all little girls loved tights and skirts.  Pink and purple and sparkles.

That was until Miss Elsa came along.

I see her playing with superheros more than anything else.

God forbid you tell her she looks pretty,

or cute,

or adorable.

She prefers awesome,

or cool.

She was discussing colors with her Nonna the other day.

I wish I could have captured the look on her face when she said, "pink" and "purple."

It was like she'd just thrown up in her mouth.

(Her preference was black and red).

The other day she even went so far as to say that she wanted to trade her vagina for a penis.

Oh lord, the Freudians would have a heyday with that one.

Talk about penis envy.

I guess to her, it must be way cooler than a vagina.

Her brothers get to stand up and pee.

Theirs wiggle when they jump (our bath times are pretty open...)

Whatever.

But today I was delighted when I saw her walk up to a friend's arrangement of Christmas ornaments in a hurricane lantern.

She called it...

"pretty."

That's a word I never thought I'd hear out of her mouth, spoken with reverence.

Ever.

Then tonight she stunned me by playing baby dolls with her sister!

She had her baby in a baby backpack, carting him everywhere.

Of course she was looking everywhere for a boy baby (which we do not have) but she settled for a frilly, pink girl.

It's the little things that cheer this mama's heart.

I have a tiny glimmer of hope that my little tomboy,

who prefers her brothers' and cousin's hand-me-downs to anything else,

who would wear tighty whiteys if I let her,

who wants to be called cool and awesome over pretty,

who plays with action figures,

and runs more like a boy than most boys her age

might one day style her hair and put on a dress of her own accord.

Maybe even one day she'll let me call her pretty.

Which she is, even in "I do my own stunts", batman, and firefighter t-shirts.

Even if she doesn't, she's still a special little person.  And I'll love her just the same.

Look out world, our little Elsa Jane is going to blaze a spectacular path, full of surprises.