Girls part 2 & my non-conforming child

I really have to say that the group of girls my girls have as friends are the best. I truly think of them like my "other daughters." Just seeing them interact at co-op today reminded me that any frustrations they may have with each other are so minimal compared to what we'd be experiencing in other situations. And I have to say that while Natalie still have some "rough edges" when dealing with people, she has come SUCH a long way. I'm listening to her interact with a younger girl right now. A few years ago Natalie had a really hard time having this particular child around, mainly because she (Nat) is very jealous (meaning protective) of her time with her friends and this child is a little sister, which means she (child) takes her sister's time. Nat would also be upset if any neighbor friends came over when she was at these girls' house. While N. still can get frustrated with the younger girl, she treats her more like a little sister & can be very kind to her. Today in the car the little one fell asleep on Natalie's arm. Natalie just adjusted to make them both more comfortable!

Then there is my non-conforming older child. I suppose being Autism Awareness Month it is only fitting that she chose to wear her hair in a "special" way today. She thinks it looks nice to wear a headband as if it were a wreath on her head. It's not straight around like a crown or sweatband, but tilted the way fair maidens wore garlands of flowers upon their hair. Except hers is a stretchy navy blue headband. I did tell her it looked odd, but that if she was okay with it, that was okay. I don't want her to get out in the world & have people tell her she looks weird and come home saying, "You said it looked fine!" I asked where she saw this style. Her answer was, "On a random person." As I put in my former posts about conformity, she's not doing anything sinful, just different. If she's okay with it, then I guess I will be, too. I just don't think I'll be wearing my hair like that any time soon! LOL!

Natalie, on the other hand, made sure to tell my friend Kathy, who among her many talents can cut hair and is the new stylist for my girls, "I parted my hair today!" I'm not big on making hair look "just so" and have always just brushed their hair or pulled it up into a ponytail. Last night Nat came in & asked me to part her hair because she couldn't get it right. She came in this morning and asked me to make sure it was right. She is quite happy with her straight part in her hair! Thank you Miss Kathy!