This girl is made of Awesome! She put that outfit together and she totally owned it! She owns everything that she builds, says, makes, creates. No holds barred. She has her moments of shyness and bashfulness and regret. But most of the time she is wide open, full of life and joy, and taking the world by storm.
As we were walking into the grocery store the other day she was skipping ahead singing "I'm cool. I'm awesome. I'm cool. I'm awesome!" Laurel and Sierra trailed behind saying "Mom, she sounds kind of conceited. You should tell her to stop." I can't. I just can't do it. I said to my older girls that Cadence has her whole life to be knocked down. Someone will knock her down at some point if she doesn't do it to herself first. If she can retain a portion of her self-love and self-confidence, that will be a win. But it will change eventually. There will be a boy, or a frenemy, or an outright bully that will make her stop and question all of her awesomeness. Sadly, it may even be the voice in her own head after seeing a commercial on TV or a supermodel in a magazine. She will question her looks, her strength, her smarts, her worth. She will question and compare and wonder if she's good enough, if she's smart enough, if she's "fill in the blank" enough. That is the sad fact of life. I sure as hell am not going to be the one to knock her down.
Don't get me wrong. I'm fully aware that she shouldn't skip her way down Wall Street chanting "I'm cool. I'm awesome!" as she swings her briefcase. At least not out loud. But my wish for her, is that she will sing it in her head. I hope that she holds on to the confidence that she has when she looks in the mirror at her stripes and polka dots and her crazy hair that she "did all on my own" and can say to herself on a regular basis "I kinda kick ass. I'm smart, I'm strong, and I have worth." You are made of Awesome, Cadence. Don't ever forget or doubt it, baby girl!
