Girls Ruffled Outfits: Rya Bella
I’m mom to 1 little boy and 2 little girls and I feel like I’m always hoping and praying about their future.
Hoping they don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made and praying that they will always know how much they are loved.
I know a lot of people have amazing, lovely memories of high school. They loved playing sports and being part of a team or they hung out with their friends and went on fun adventures.
I was the opposite. High school and trying to fit in overwhelmed me. I didn’t make great decisions and I didn’t have the best group of friends.
My senior year was especially hard. I probably broke the cardinal rule of thinking a boy my friend dated 3 years prior in junior high was cute.
The group of friends that I was supposed to be going to football games with, getting all dolled up for prom with and planning our senior trip together quickly vanished.
You know, the senior year that you wait for? I had in my mind that it was going to be awesome. Filled with late nights, treat nights, and rolling around town with the windows rolled down and music playing. The oldest, “most mature” people walking around campus, thrilled to be moving on with their lives shortly.
Quickly that group of friends became the group that was egging and flouring my car, spending countless nights prank calling my house, yelling rude things across the campus, and would send hurtful pages—yes, I’m from the days of pagers.
They’d go after boys I dated and would start dating them. Their group of about 10 expanded immediately to many other girls and I no longer felt like I belonged anywhere.
I started parking my car in the garage and I pretty much ducked into class and came right home after class. It seemed like even my teachers knew about it.
I feel so lucky that texting and social media hadn’t been invented yet because I know it would have been even harder to handle.
My mom was the only one I felt I could turn to that made me feel like I belonged somewhere. We’d sit together at the football games, we’d bake together, and she really became my best friend. She used to always tell me, “You know what Jen, one day we are going to be best friends.” And I’d always say, “You’re my mom, not my best friend.” After everything I had put her through during my rebellious stage, she just picked me right back up and kept me going.
I hope my kids know that they belong. They belong here with us. They are talented and they have so much to offer. Even at their young ages. I hope that they realize their potential and that they go through their awkward stages with confidence.
I hope that if they ever look in the mirror and feel that their burden is too heavy that they will talk to us about it. On the days where they wake up and look in the mirror and have braces and bumps, I hope they will be able to take one day at a time and know it will get better.
I hope they won’t think high school is the end all be all and that they will keep whatever standards they choose. Bullying is real. It can be detrimental and cause so much stress.
Even as a mom of 3, I sometimes get nervous walking into events or big crowds, crossing my fingers that I will say the right thing or that people will like me.
You never have to apologize for being kind.
The “You Belong” thought was brought on by this style post and I submitted a design for the Cents of Style & Jane.com Design The Good contest. If you get a chance, head over and vote for some of your favorites or submit your own idea. It’s for an amazing cause. The more votes (likes) people get, the more money will be donated to charity. This is not an ad, I just love the cause. Happy Friday!
