Very early on, children learn to express and display their own personal style. I love to watch them come into their own individuality.

Trust me—there are days when I have to bite my lip. I have been known to explain to a few pre-school teachers, “I promise my children are well-nutured, I just choose to let them express their individuality.” This was an especially apropos statement when my youngest decided to wear her bright purple tutu, a rhinestone t-shirt that was limp with excessive wear, her black patent leather holiday shoes and countless glittered hair clips—for a total of about 17 consecutive days last spring. Yes, to school!

As a mother of four girls, I am continually amazed at what motivates individual interest. What draws them to different things? Why does one daughter like to wear fancy dresses while another likes to wear t-shirts and leggings? Why does one like to wear headbands and the other prefer nothing in her hair? Why does one like sports and one like singing and dancing?

My list of questions can go on and on—but I think the answer remains the same in all situations: Because they are different. Shouldn’t their differences be celebrated?

In my next post I’ll explore this a bit further with characters from Scholarville. Stay tuned.