Sometimes I want to grow up to become an inspired and spirited teenage girl--just like Zoe. She's the daughter of one of my favorite school co-moms Lizanne. Moved by Sara Kay, Zoe has gotten into expressing herself through spoken word. Here is one of her first attempts, in a video she also made all by herself...
I am far, far from my teenage years but have yet to fulfill some of the items on that promise list. Oh my. Time to get to it.
In the meantime, I have to thank the lovely Lizanne and her equally lovely daughter Zoe for showing me that we need not be bothered by the Cassandras who foretell of scary teenagers during these Days of Evil Internet and Loose Morals. Teenage daughters are even scarier, they add. Sometimes they are. Sometimes they're like Zoe.
Yours with optimism,
7 comments:
Oh, Nikka! You now have a sniveling fool (also read as: proud mother and grateful friend) in your hands.
Your words not only warmed my heart but made me realize that the pride I feel got in the way of making me see that... you're right... there are things on Zoe's list that I may think I've ticked off.... but I seriously have to revisit again and again and again.
They are not one shot deals.... but promises to be lived out everyday.
Thank you for giving me fresh eyes with which to see her little film with.
I am truly grateful that you made DEAR APPLICANT a part of your blog.
Humbled and grateful,
Lizzie
i love this video! and i'm pretty sure i was neither this introspective nor this prolific when i was a teenager.
actually, i still don't think i am, hahaha! galing!! what do you have to feed children so they turn out like zoe?
Hahaha Jona! Lizanne, ano daw pinapakain kay Zoe? I'm guessing love and acceptance? : )
Lizanne, inconsistency IS human. And so we are always working on it. But always, kindness. Especially to ourselves as Zoe expressed in Dear Applicant : )
Naku! To take your question literally... as a baby, you couldn't have found a pickier eater. By the time she was ready for solids, we practically spent the entire day just feeding her because she refused to chew.
We would feed her playing with water and bubbles in the sink... feed her in the pool... feed her driving around the village. There were days I would get so worn out I tried starving her for an entire day and she wouldn't ask for food at all.
We were reduced to pureeing her meals and feeding her through a syringe because it was the chewing that she refused to do. All the while I kept thinking, I need to save up for psychotherapy in the future... this syringe business can't possibly be good. Waah!!!
We did that for 3 whole years would you believe! And now, you couldn't tell from her tiny frame... that this girl is matakaw! Crazy time that was, Jona!
But you're right, Niks... love, acceptance and a lot of safety nets for life's dramas which she seems to be quite the magnet for. But she's a mighty tough one. And as much as I would like to take credit for how amazing she is, she really kinda came in this awesome package and all we had to do was break the seal.
Thank you again, Nikka, for sharing your space with her and Jona... sending you a shower of grateful fairy dust.
I just love Mommy Talk with Lizanne!!! From syringe food feeding to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (hehehe, remember?) to the benefits of progressive education. Jona, when you get pregnant na, lunch tayo with Lizanne : )
Thank you for posting this in your blog! I'm really happy that others get to see it. :) All these positive comments are so amazing!
Keep reaching for amazing Zoe!
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