She still wears the pink swimsuit.

When our daughter was around 3 years old, her great grandmother gave her a pink swimsuit with ruffles around the edges. It quickly became her clothing of choice and a PINK problem for her daddy. You see my husband was the one to get our children ready in the morning, as I had to be at work by 7am. The pink swimsuit became an issue. She wanted to wear it everyday to preschool, swim in it and then sleep in it. I remember my husband calling me at work to say, "well she wore the swimsuit again, I did the best I could do with her." Our daughter has since continued with this gritty determination. Nothing much has changed. As I look back on those times. I am so thankful we did not mash her like a pot of potatoes. Sure we could have spanked her into submission, but does a parent really win when we do this? We could have "lost" the pink problem, but would that have taught trust to this young child? I remember the night the suit was still wet from swimming and our blond headed, strong headed daughter couldn't understand why she couldn't sleep in a wet suit. She finally agreed to sleeping in her brother's t-shirt. No, we never laid a hand on that child over the pink swimsuit. As time passed and the suit no longer fit, we watched this little girl grow up. She is still very strong willed, thank goodness. She remembers the suit and laughs. My husband and I can chuckle about it now because we did not let the ruffles on that suit ruffle us. Children are bent a certain way from birth. As parents we are called to turn them, just like a plant to absorb the sun for growth, but never to clip the bud. We've got to let them bloom to see the beauty in their true colors. Everyone's bloom is different.