"I don't like your nose"
Yesterday, I told Kristina about something Maia had said. We had been lying on the bed Saturday morning, and Maia had said, "I don't like your nose."
My nose is broken, and several times before, she had commented on it. "Your nose is crooked," she had said. But this was the first time she had said that she didn't like my nose.
It made me think that someone at her preschool had made a similar comment about her left ear.
"What did you say?" Kristina wanted to know.
I hadn't said anything--hadn't known how to respond.
"I should have said something, shouldn't I? So she'll have an idea of how to respond?"
She's such a beautiful child. And she has such an engaging fun-loving and friendly personality. I don't want her to get hung up on her missing left ear.
My Mother said that she smiles with her whole face, and it's true.
These pictures were taken by a professional photograher a couple of months after Maia's second birthday.
John, April 7, 2006
posted by John at 4/07/2006 10:50:00 AM
8 Comments:
My wife is from Kazakhstan and I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Karaganda. It is cool to read your blog.
Glad you like it, Dave. I'm going to put up more pics from Shymkent and Almaty.
ps I know we've been through this in email. My mistake--I should have started the exchange here. I wanted to include the address of your wife's blog: www.liliyainusa.blogspot.com.
I wouldn't have known that her ear is missing...I guess I just don't look for things like that. Of course, I have a problem myself...I am highly intellegent but get treated like I were stupid/freaky since I have an eye that goes one way. Teach your daughter self-esteem & she will always have an inner strength to fall back on when peoples' eyes or voices say things.
Your daughter is beautiful.
By the way I am glad to see that you are praying for little David...I have posted about this over on my blog. I am really scared for him.
Really cute pictures... Love her smile. The purity of mind is all that matters, the imperfections of the body are but mere passings... And Maia, is pure as an angel :)
To Rags: I would agree with that. But in some sense, I also think that our imperfections are extremely important. I've never really learned anything from the things that are "perfect" about myself. It's the things that aren't perfect that have given me things to think about and deal with. For Maia--if her left ear had been as perfect as her right, her biological family wouldn't have abandoned her, and none of the life she has led and will lead would have happened. That one imperfection has been and will be a life changing and life forming circumstance for her. It will be the event on which everything else will have turned. My job, I think, is to help her figure it out, to give it some kind of context in which she's not victimized by it. A couple of months ago, she said she wants to be a doctor, and she's always had an affinity for medical people. I hope something comes of that.
To bluest: Thank you. I think she's beautiful, too.
There is always an amalgam inside everyone's soul, of destiny and determination, that makes the decisions for you, for the better or for the worse...
In Maia's case, her early childhood was shaped by her destiny... and it landed her with you. As she grows, her determination will get better and influence her resolve and decesions, to help her attain her goals...
With you by her side, she has a great life ahead and you, i know will do your best to help her attain her dreams...
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