Cool for Awesome

A while back, Jack was describing something to us and he said it was "cool for awesome". It has become a family saying when we think something is "really neat". Cool is one level, but "cool for awesome" is clearly way above just a simple cool.
I am struck with the thought that children, in their early years, really think they are wonderful, awesome, special creatures. As time goes on and we release them into the world, they find that not everyone feels they are "cool for awesome". Some people are downright mean or cruel and seem to make it their mission to make them feel bad about themselves. As a parent or grandparent, or anyone who loves them, for that matter, it makes our heart ache to see them hurt. I don't like to see my grown children hurting to this day. To think that these darling girls of mine, who are preening in the mirror in a princess dress and smiling at their awesomeness, will someday, sooner than I care to imagine, be wailing because their hair doesn't look "right", or someone told them their nose was too big or they were not their friend anymore, makes me want to cry. I will always be there to tell them they are perfect and beautiful, but my words will soon mean less than those of their friends. Even if my words become a smaller voice in their life, I will never stop telling them, over and over. Hopefully, I have filled up their reservoir of self esteem with enough "cool for awesome", that they will have an abundance for their future.
Wasn't it easier when all you had to do to protect them was to keep their fingers out of the light sockets?!