The "I Am" Project

Like most parts of the country, we have experiencing an unusually cold and snowy winter, which means more than our usual share of snow days. Our son is in preschool, supposedly three times a week, but he hasn't had two school days in a row since before Christmas! Between my ongoing health issues and more days with my son than usual, I haven't been doing very many projects, or blog posts for that matter.

As the new year began, I found myself sentimental that my days alone with our son are coming to an end. Next year he starts all day kindergarten five days a week and this pre-school stage of mommyhood will be coming to an end. So, I don't mind the snow days. Even if we are all dealing with a little bit of cabin fever.

The other day I read a post from Magical Childhood about the "I Am" project on Facebook. The page creator writes:

I am saddened by the amount of kid-shaming photos and stories I see all over the internet. My proposal is that we flood the world wide web with kid-positivity and uplifting stories and photos. So, grab a kid (preferably your own; if not get permission) and ask them to finish the sentence, 'I am...' Write down what they say (I guarantee it'll be positive) snap a picture of them holding it and post it everywhere! Post them here as well and let's see how many uplifting, positive things we can learn about our children!

I love this idea! When Niels and I were still dating, we talked about social media and agreed that we would never use a public platform to say a disparaging word about each other, or about any children we might have together. Of course, this isn't to say that we aren't aware of our shortcomings, its just that once something is out there on the internet, you can't take it back, so our guideline is to praise in public and address faults in private. 

I had to smile when D finished the "I am..." sentence with funny. Funny is D's highest compliment. He adores his preschool teacher and often tells me that she is funny. I asked him what she did to make him laugh. He looked at me and said, "She doesn't do funny things. She just is funny." From D's perspective, to be funny is to be loved. Of all the characteristics and opinions, D might have used to complete the sentence, it makes me so happy to know that his first thought is that he loves himself. 

Add your own "I Am" project photo on the "I Am" Facebook page. 

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