My odd duck is blossoming into an amazing little person

Tweet

My son got his first birthday party invite today that was actually directly to him and not the entire class. This kid isn't even in his class. They have scouts together and they play at recess together and sometimes eat lunch together. My son has had several invites that were given to his entire class but this is his first invite that was given to him because he is a good friend with a kid and not simply because he is in the same class as the kid. My son is a quirky kid who is well I guess I would say is weird. I mean not in a bad way. My son is just very different than most kids with certain things. He marches to the beat of his own drum and doesn't care what others think of him which I personally think is a good thing but it also means there are going to be others along the way who try to make fun of him or refuse to play with him because he is the "weird kid" but for the most part he has found great kids who like him exactly the way he is. He actually has a lot of friends at school but very few in which he always wants to hang out with or who have actually had parents reach out to us to spend time with their kid, so to see a kid that genuinely talks about my son and wants him to be at their party its sort of a milestone. He told me this kid is one of his best friends. I am actually surprised he has the amount of friends he does with some of his quirks but at the same time, he is very social. I used to worry he would never have friends when he was younger because he had social issues. He screamed and cried for two weeks straight when I would leave him at preschool but he has really grown up and has found he enjoys social interaction even if he doesn't necessarily like school. My son tells me all the time he is weird but not in a bad way he enjoys being different. I know some people see the word weird as a bad thing but I never have. To me it's great that he stands out and is happy to be himself no matter what others think. My son has the confidence I never had. He is my opposite in so many ways and that's definitely not a bad thing. I grew up with self-esteem issues and I'm happy to see that my son is proud of who he is. He knows what he likes and what he doesn't. He doesn't try to pretend to be someone he isn't to please people. If he doesn't like something he lets you know. I am so proud of who he is and I'm happy to see people like him for who he is. The fact that he has made plenty of friends and actually has kids he considers his best friends really makes me happy. It means there are good kids out there who like people for who they are and not who they think they should be. My son is one of the sweetest kindest children I know. He is the first to stop and help someone up if they fall. He never has a bad thing to say about anyone. He is honest to a fault but most importantly he is who he is and he makes no apologies for it. My son's personality traits can really get on my nerves at times because he can be whiney and he is so difficult to get to try new things and he has a lot of fears that are sometimes insane to me but at the same time I always let him be who he is and I hope that my little odd duck stays true to himself as he ages and deals with more and more peer pressure. My son wouldn't be who he is without all of his personality quirks and while yes they can get on my nerves sometimes mostly I am just proud of the person he is faults and all. I have yet to meet a person that doesn't like my son, which is surprising with how argumentative he is but despite that he is also polite, sweet, caring, and kind. No kid is perfect and my son definitely isn't either but his positive qualities definitely outnumber his faults. He is working on not arguing with people. He likes to make his point and sometimes doesn't realize that he is actually arguing. At the same time, my son almost never has to be told to say please or thank you unless he is super excited and he forgets but for the most part he does it automatically. I have been told on a number of occasions he is one of the most polite children most people have ever met. I am just so proud of who this kid is. I know he has a long way to go to become the person he is meant to be but I think he is a pretty awesome little dude even if he is an odd duck, he is MY odd duck and I love him for being exactly who he is.