Being a kid lasts just a short span of time: I'm so glad I was a little weirdo.

Ya'll, please teach your kids to never look around and think, "well, what are they doing," and then come up with who they need to be. Teach them to just march right on to the beat of whatever drum they are hearing.

Tell them to always be original
or Weird
or Awesome
or Loud
or Quiet
or Strange
or Average
or Brilliant
or Charming. . .
Just Whatever it is they really are.

Growing up, I was an odd duck and awkward, to say the very least.

I didn't make friends with my peer group, I talked far too much about things no one cared about, rocked a fierce mullet (straight and permed, depending) and didn't care a fig for what folks considered fashionable or interesting. Well, I do remember loving neon, but that might prove my point a bit too well, eh?

I was very tall, built rather like a large boy and brought with me a fairly deep voice that carried far and wide. I didn't know how to use a blow dryer and rejected the idea of a bra (which, it didn't matter, with my odd ball shape, I didn't need one back then).

I talked about the old West, Horses and Hamsters.

I liked old folks, telling big stories and food. Some things never change, but other things did. I developed a passion for shoes in time and pretty things.

So, I am thankful my family was one built on being unique and believing in one's value as a "weirdo."

That is what makes me the fancy farmer who does animal rescue I am today, I reckon.

The people who raised me never fit in, and so I never saw a reason to try to, either.

I was the most confident kid you could have met, and while I was always the least popular with my peer group, It never registered that being unpopular could be something I should worry about at all.

Time flies. Being a kid lasts just a short span of time.

I'm so glad I was a little weirdo.

I hope my 3 are as odd as I was, and I hope their character reflects that originality when they are long since grown.

I wish more kids were taught the value of being unique and apart. I wish more children knew that one day their most important attributes may very well be what made them different all that time. It certainly will never be what made you like everyone else.