or, A Lady Turns Three

     One of the families at church had a birthday party for their daughter, Lisa, who just turned three. It was held as a barbecue for the whole church and any of their family friends who wanted to come. Of course, the high concentration of adults made for a good pile of gifts for little Lisa, but I see another benefit to a child’s birthday party with adults.
     Since socialization is how children learn proper interpersonal skills and develop their interactive ability, oversocialization with their peers is actually damaging to their maturation and emotional development — contrary to widely-held psychiatric beliefs. Giving a child many chances to learn from those more experienced than they, especially in a non-threatening environment like a birthday party, is essential to their well-rounded development.
     Besides that, if you are raising a lady — which I think every parent of a daughter ought to strive to do — much hard work can be undone if appropriate examples are not constantly present to reaffirm “what a lady is”.
     And if you’re raising a lady, don’t forget the flowers. Royce, Lisa’s dad, bought her a bouquet — three pink roses. That little girl was carrying them around along with her new favorite toy, a plush stuffed dog she christened “Maggie”, after her “real” pet.
     Lisa is in for a good and proper life, the way she is going. Her daddy (and yes, you should let your little lady call you ”daddy” even when she is eighteen and twenty) is putting her well on her way to being a lady, and there is such a vast difference between a lady and a woman. That is a gift beyond all others — beyond the stuffed dog with which she made herself inseperable; and yes, even beyond the flowers.

Crosspost: Scraps and Harbour in the Scramble