To Each Her Own

I had a thought I probably come across about once a week: I have no idea where my daughters came from. Okay, I have a pretty good idea where they CAME from, but there is very little in their personalities I relate with. Tonight Ava was choreographing several routines, Jocelyn was twirling around the room to music coming from one of her toys, and Molly was clapping and bouncing along. I may have spent 15 years of my life taking dance and performing in competitions and recitals, but I was NOT a naturally outgoing child by any means. I gave many a performance to the dolls and stuffed animals in the privacy of my room, but would never have dreamed of dancing around the living room for all to see. Ava would wear dresses everyday if she were allowed to, and Jocelyn pulls out and wears her Snow White costume at least twice a week. I remember screaming in protest every Sunday when I would have to wear a dress to church - a whole hour in a dress was TORTURE! And they're so different from each other - Ava is my verbal child, having at least 3 or 4 words by her 1st birthday; Jocie is just now able to string sentences together, and as soon as she gets too animated it's difficult to understand. Jocie, however, is my physical child - she can use her weight to bend even her Momma and Daddy to her will. Ava didn't walk until she was almost 16 months old, and will still fall over if you blow in her direction. (Who knows where Molly fits in many of these areas - a few months will reveal much more) A few years ago when it became very clear that Ava was much more a girly girl than I ever imagined a child of mine could be, I wondered how I would relate to my daughter who seemed to view the world so differently from me. As time goes by I'm finding more and more that it's all these quirks and differences that make a family so much fun. I will still shy away from the idea of playing Just Dance on the Wii, but I love that the rest of my family is much more exciting than me.