my example.

This is Van's BEST friend, Jasmine. She declared her to be that 3 seconds after meeting her. This is not uncommon for Van to find a friend, and immediately start calling him or her BEST friend. Oh, and she has to hold hands with everyone that she meets! It is a must!

As Jasmine and Van were playing in a breeze way of one of our locations I started thinking about this...

• Van wants friends in life, and does a dang good job at making them. She doesn't wait for them to come up to her, she walks right up to them and says "Do you want to play rock, paper, cut with me?" I've decided I need to stop waiting for someone else to become my friend. I need to walk right up to people, and introduce myself.
• Van doesn't care that Jasmine mostly speaks Chinese. Van doesn't care that she even can talk at all. They just kept smiling at each other, and little giggles would come from the corner. I need to not be intimated that they might not understand me. Everyone understands a smile.
• I heard Van telling Jasmine, "Do you know where your name comes from?". Jasmine looked confused, and Savannah didn't wait for her response saying "It is from Aladdin!". Van makes it look so easy to talk to people. I always over analyze what I'm going to say...I need to remember to make it simple.

I watch my child, and learn so much from her. She is not afraid to be herself, and enjoy what life has to offer. I love her for helping me be a better person.