Shyness

As a child I was very shy, had zero confidence, kept to myself and had a select few friends who I would feel comfortable to be my silly self in front of. As an adult I am a lot better but at the same time still carry these traits with me. When I look back on my childhood I feel like these things held me back, and I always think I could have had a much easier childhood if I was different. 

Fast forward to being a Mum I was so worried my kids would have the same or similar personality as me. I didn't want them to have a hard time being a kid, I wanted them to just have fun and feel comfortable to be themselves all the time. Georgia's personality is looking more and more like mine as time goes by. I remember one night crying to Mark about it, it upset me that much. But as she is growing up I've realised it is ok, I can't force her to be someone she isn't. 

I caught myself out the other day. When people say hello to her, her shyness kicks in and she doesn't respond to them, she stands there and blankly stares off into the distance, sometimes even turning away from them, which looks as though she is being rude. I'm still working on not letting what other people think of my family and our parenting techniques effect me, but I realised that I have been saying to the people she isn't responding to that she is shy. I recently said it to someone who she wasn't saying hello to and when they walked off Georgia said to me 'Georgia is shy'. I realised she was taking that on and I was making excuses for her behaviour rather then teaching her the right way to respond when someone says hello. In turn it was making her think that her behaviour was ok because I was giving her that excuse. 

I never thought saying something as simple as she is shy could have such a big impact on her little mind. Toddlers truly are little sponges and if you don't think they are taking in what you are saying, they are! I still have a lot of lessons to learn about parenting and toddlers (as we all do!) but I am getting there. I thought being a shy kid would make dealing with a shy toddler easier but it truly doesn't. 

A big lesson I've learnt out of this is I need to STOP caring what other people think. I need to focus on my tiny humans and help them through whatever they are going through at that point in time and teach them the life skills they need. What others think doesn't matter, this is something I need to start making the effort to remember. It is a hard lesson for me and I am constantly working on it. But it is a good lesson for us all to master. 

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