Is it too early to watch Christmas movies? Probably, but I’ve had this urge to watch Elf for the past week. I keep thinking about the scene where Buddy realizes he’s different than the other elves.
Buddy, played by Will Ferrell in his greatest performance to date, is behind all the other elves’ toy-making productivity. He gets upset and says he’s the worst toy-maker in the world and one of the other elves tries to encourage him by saying, “we all have different talents.” Buddy (rightly) recognizes that it “seems everyone else has the same talents except me.”
This awakening results in Buddy finding out he is not an elf and that he is, in fact, a human. He sets off on journey to discover who he is in relation to the world he grew up in and the world he doesn’t know.
The montage of Buddy in NYC makes me howl with laughter every single time. I think about it a lot and how new places are so strange until we learn the rules and adjust.
We moved back to Oahu 2 months ago, and even though it is familiar to us, our kids are having to navigate a whole new way of doing things. Overall I thought the transition was smooth, until our oldest started school. On the 6th day of school I got an email from her teacher with concerns about her being “behind” the other students. You may be thinking “umm, isn’t that a little early to decide this?” Yes, I think so, but I’m not mad at the teacher and appreciate the early communication. It has given us insight into things we need to work on at home - but our goal is not having a straight A student.
I don’t care about her grades. (No, really, I don’t.)
I don’t care about her grades but I care deeply about her sense of self-worth. If she fails a test, my top priority is her knowing that grade didn’t diminish her value. When she cries as a result of comparing herself to other kids, I don’t tell her to work harder, I tell her I’m proud of her - PERIOD. Last week she told me that her brain is different than other peoples’— and I thought to myself, “only an intelligent and intuitive 7 year old would recognize this.” I mean, it took Buddy 30 years to figure out he wasn’t an elf, I think my kid is gonna be fine.
Time to take the pressure off our kids (and ourselves) and remember what really matters- candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup! they know they’re loved, they love themselves, and they love other people.