Princess and the Pea

Today is autism awareness day. I thought it was completely appropriate on a day like today that I was busy slamming Jessie's shoes on the concrete, trying my hardest to get out every single sand granule she feels in her shoe. We had traveled to the beach and I had completely forgotten her flip flops so she had been stuck with her tennis shoes. I remember one of our kids totally missing her first year of preschool because she wouldn't get dressed. All of her clothes bothered her. I cannot think of any of our five kids who have not at one point or another had some type of sensitivity issue to food or clothes. I decided all these "sensitivity" issues reminded me of the story of the "Princess and the Pea". It had been several years since I had read the story, so I decided to reread it today. I was curious to see what kind of punishment was exacted on a person sensitive enough to feel a mere pea under myriads of mattresses.
I was amazed as I read the story that the girl who had such grave sensitivity issues was not punished at all! Instead she was dubbed a princess who would marry a prince. I thought of my own lovely girls who maybe could not stand grands of sand, gritty pears or tags on the inside of their shirts. These same people , however, were sensitive enough to notice the many different colors of blue in the sky. They were also often the first people to notice when a fellow living creature, human or otherwise, needed help. They were sensitive enough to be a little kinder, a little gentler than the average person.
Yes, I decided my girls were royal princesses worthy of recognition.  Whether I chose to focus on the grains of sands or itchy clothes rather than their talents was up to me and the rest of the world.

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