Fridays from the Archives – Stray Mittens

by Roseanna White | Nov 10, 2017 | Fridays from the Archives

Time for another Fridays from the Archives! Today we’re looking back to January 2010, when Xoe was only 4, and Rowyn only 2. I actually went looking for this one, because it’s something I think of from time to time. I in fact recently regaled Xoe with the tale of how she refused to put matching mittens beside each other, and she thought it was utterly hilarious.

And though now she’s a bit more fashion conscious and will play by the rules, that creative streak is still definitely present–and still such fun to see!

I know, I know. You look at the title to this post and think I’m going
to talk about my kids’ propensity to lose one of each and every set of
mittens in the house. And they do, I assure you. But that’s actually not
my point at all. =)

On Tuesdays I take Xoe to Story Time at our Library, which she loves.
It’s the usual setup–the librarian reads to them, they sing some songs,
there’s a craft or snack. The past few weeks, one of the songs has made
use of the felt-board and cutout paper mittens in different colors.
When the song calls out the color of then mitten you have, you run up
and put it on the board. Simple, right?

I’ve noticed something these last few weeks. Whenever Miss Liz says,
“Put them here” and pats the board, every other child–I’m talking every
. . . single . . . one–puts their colored mitten where she points. The
first to get there will put it by the edge, the second (there are two
of each color, go figure) right beside it.

Except Xoe.

Naturally, my little princess must be different. On Tuesday, she put her
white mitten right in the middle of the board, though the first child
to get there with with white put it by the edge, under the red ones,
just like the librarian indicated.

I watched carefully when it was her turn again. By the time yellow was
called, the board was mostly full. Again, another kid got there with
yellow before her. Again, started a nice, neat row.

Where, I wondered, would my little deviant put this one? There wasn’t
much room left, other than beside its match. Would she conform?

Er, no. She put it in the spot still open beside the first white one, which was all lonely because her white one was off by itself.

I nearly laughed. There it was, this lovely rainbow of mittens,
surprisingly well ordered by a bunch of three-year-olds, and the only
oddities in the pattern were those two mittens my daughter put up, one
white, one yellow. Two bright, cheerful slaps in the face of conformity.

Now, as a mother of a preschooler, there are a lot of moments when I think, “Can’t you just do what you’re told? Please?
Must you make waves? Must you do things your own way? Don’t you see
that your outfit looks ridiculous, that you’ve made your ‘art’ over top
of an actual picture, that you’ve undone all my cleaning by creating
this ‘obstacle course’ of toys?” Especially in public. Especially around
other mothers with their well-behaved children who come to the Library
appropriately dressed.

But you know . . . on Tuesday, something in me cheered. Something said,
“Yeah, go Xoe! Make a new pattern! Color outside the lines! Wear red and
black Minnie Mouse shoes with a pink and yellow kitty-cat dress! Be you!”

Now, I would like to note that my daughter is darn good for a 4-year-old. She can color inside the lines, follow precise directions, and pick out a pattern. She can clean up her toys, pick out presentable clothes, and charm the socks off any adult she comes across.

But she can also create. She can go around for a full day, narrating a
story in her mind that incorporates everything she’s actually doing. She
can turn a boring tan rubber band into an intricate bracelet.

She can turn a paper mitten into a bright spot. And this mommy, who sometimes just wishes she would listen, couldn’t be more proud.