September Perfect Post Awards

Hear ye! Hear ye! It's time for the September perfect post awards and I am awarding everybody's favorite goosemouse (That would be Mothergoosemouse to you) for her post You were the white kid?

Julie's post is about how she spent four years as a child going to Chinese school every Saturday morning. She was the only white child in the school and even though it was her choice to go, she sometimes found it challenging. The experience was definitely outside her comfort zone. She writes:

"Not only did I learn a foreign language, but I learned - at a much younger age than most people - how it feels to be different from those around you."

I enjoyed Julie's post because it was a unique bit of insight into how she became the person that we know and respect today. I am amazed at the fact that as a kid she chose to challenge herself in such a way. And I'm equally impressed by the fact her mother honored and nurtured her request to study Chinese.

I'm sure it wasn't easy for Julie's mother to watch her daughter take on the challenge that she did. To know our child isn't fitting in or is struggling with something... that can be difficult. Too often our first impulse is to jump in and fix things, to save our child from hurt.

But going outside of your comfort zone is how character is built. The discomfort is short term; the benefits are long term. So whether it's encouraging my children to remain on a team even if they're not the best player, or encouraging them to stick with piano lessons even if they feel all thumbs, I want them to experience what it's like to not always be the best or the most perfect or even the same as everybody else.

Because as Julie explains, "I wasn’t special; I was alone. It’s not an easy place to be, especially as a child, but it’s a place you never forget."

For more September perfect post awards, check out the list over at Suburban Turmoil or Petroville. And keep up the good blogging!

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Technorati tags: Perfect Post Awards, raising children, building character