What I shouldn't be doing on a Friday night

What I shouldn't be doing is watching my 3rd grader flee from his room at bedtime. Face red and tear streaked, he pleads, "Can we please move?!" 

I assume the tough, one-day-will-be-man is afraid of the monster undoubtedly residing in his closet.

I assume on a Friday night I'll be doing closet checks and tucking children in to bed for the umpteenth time.

So I'm stunned when my question to why we need to move is met with a string of nearly indecipherable words that sounded something like, "They always tell me I need plastics surgery. He asks, 'who looks better' and they never say me," he said through tears. "They say I'm ugly and need plastic surgery... that I look worse because I have freckles. They tell me everyday. Different people, they compare us everyday."

It all spilled out, in the hallway, on a Friday night. 
And every foot-dragging, week day morning; every "I hate school, I just don't like it." suddenly made more sense.

I'm sad to say I knew the day he was born we'd tackle this monster. 
When fluorescent lights above the hospital bed gleamed against his copper hair, I knew.
The summer the Texas sun drew out those freckles, I knew it was coming. 

Photo by Capturing Me Photography

Nevermind that he's handsome. 
Nevermind that he's funny, with wit, creative, helpful, an ace on the soccer field. 
Nevermind that he loves Jesus and Michael Jackson. 
He has every Pokémon memorized and will battle Beyblades until dawn if he could - he isn't unlike his peers. 
He isn't like his peers either.


And kids sadly ... many of us, sadly, don't yet realize how beautiful it is to be unique. How boring it would be if we weren't. And what a pity it is if we can't see beauty in what's been fearfully and wonderfully made.

It's by divine design that freckles cascade from the bridge of his nose along his cheeks. It's no fluke that my copper-topped boy has true blue eyes. He is literally one in a million.

Unfortunately this monster can't be taken down in a Friday night. It'll take all of us, determination, consistency and love to conquer this beast but it's one that most definitely needs slaying. It's not imaginary, it's waiting for our children everyday.