Cheeks

This morning, while dropping Mary off at preschool, one of her classmates commented about her cheeks.

As I was hanging up Mary's coat, Mary was busy getting herself a chair to sit in. This little girl (maybe 5) comes up to me and says (in a tone of voice that only a female can possess), "Why does she have such big cheeks?" I was dumbfounded. I mean, being a teacher I know how cruel kids can be, but I would never have suspected that pointing out one's differences started as young as 4 or 5.

I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. A few months back, Mary commented for the first time about the color of a person's skin. The difference, though, was that my daughter was asking an insightful question, not passing judgement. She matter-of-factly stated that the man's skin looked like a color in her crayon box, but she never insinuated that there was anything wrong with his skin color.

Speaking of skin...I really hope that my daughter has tougher skin than I do as this whole parenting/school thing is really going to break my heart!

P.S. We think big cheeks are BEAUTIFUL!!!