Drumming on

For as long as I can remember, I have always been a little bit "different." Not weird, per se, but not like most other girls. My mom used to say that I marched to the beat of my own drum, heck some people might say I made a totally different drum too! I'm not upset about being a little untraditional from female stereotypes. Actually I think it's this reason that has helped me become a strong, out of the box individual.
As a young girl, I rarely played with dolls, I thought it was too boring. I did play with army men, GI Joe, and toy guns though! Once my grandfather gave me the Happy Birthday Barbie as a gift, you know the collectors item one. I took her up to my room, tied on a homemade parachute and threw her out the window! I just wanted to see her float....She didn't.
I always disliked putting on makeup, actually I still do. Not that I have anything against it, I just don't like doing it. It takes a lot of time and feels weird on my face. In middle school, a bunch of girls in my school ganged up on me and held me down while trying to put lipstick on my face. I'm not really sure where they got the idea from but they never tried it again. As soon as the lipstick got close to my face, I bit it and then spit it out on the ground! Ahh, victory!
Prom, many people wish they could redo their prom night or go with someone else. I hated my prom. I was so bored! I could have had so much more fun staying home, eating pizza, and playing football in the house with my brothers! I mean actual football, not a videogame, we didn't have one in my house. Seriously, my biggest prom regret was actually going to it. I was so bored and uncomfortable in my dress.
These memories hopefully gave you a chuckle, I laugh every time I think of them. For a long time though I thought being feminine meant being girly. Which is why I'm in my thirties and still learning to cook! Really it's not my parents fault, they tried but I was stubborn and defiant against learning.
The more I look back on this stuff, I see more and more how being a little odd, different, whatever you call it has helped me in my job now. I work with kids who have problems, real issues like drug abuse, criminal actions, abuse, no parents, the list only gets worse. They are what society call "different." They don't conform with 99% of their peers, they are the odd ducks and all they want is to be treated just like everyone else. Of course, my growing up was nowhere near as traumatic as theirs, but I understand being odd and not quite fitting in. So I don't regret being a little "different," many times it actually helps me build a report with the youth I supervise. And if it helps a few of them realize that different doesn't mean damaged or that they can recover from setbacks, than I will be more than happy with being "different."