Spirited children…
Recently I made a new Polly Dolly painting, her name is Polly Moon. She is quirky (as they all are) but has a mischievous and fun loving character.
Most of the Polly’s have a positive sentiment as part of the painting. I find that people love to give a gift that conveys what they want to say. They give a gift of an art piece, it hangs on the wall and everyday the recipient knows that it was sent the message was meant for them.
When I added the sentiment to this new painting it really struck a cord, and this is why.
When I was a child I was terribly shy. Like really, really shy.
When I was a teenager I had this battle going on between wanting so badly to be different, to stand out from the crowd – but to also be invisible.
I tell you this so that you understand why I wished this for my children: To be healthy, happy and confident. Everyone wants their children to be healthy and happy obviously, but the confident bit was really important.
My second child~
My second daughter was born face up with a cross look on her face. She was nine days late, but obviously very comfy where she was and not ready to be disturbed. We named her Molly, a name I love and there weren’t many of them around at the time. When I told my brother (he lives in the south of England where they have many folk laws) he said, “well, you’ve done it now, Molly is another name for a pixie – she will be wild”
And she was.
She was into everything, she was loud, and she was absolutely fearless.
She was hugely loving, wickedly funny and adventurous.
She was not a big fan of rules, they were just there to be challenged, boundaries, just for pushing.
There were times when I was fit to scream, but do you know what? I always thought that one day, that spirit will stand to her.
We mostly grow out of our childhood traits – I stopped being as shy, now I know I’m a very happy introvert. Molly stopped rebelling against everything, she grew up to be a beautiful, loving, kind and confident young woman. But, it’s still in there, the wicked sense of humour, the adventurous spirit, it has survived despite all the rules that we (parents, school, society) try to put on children and I hope it continues to stand to her for a very long time. ♥
STAY WILD, MOON CHILD!!
It doesn’t just apply to my daughter of course, I love that the wanting to be different teenager is still in me. I’m sure if we look closely, there is a bit of ‘Stay Wild’ attitude in all of us and I think it makes life more fun.
F xx