A Colour of Her Own

Last year, my daughter brought home the cutest little picture of a chameleon she had painted in her pre-kindergarten class. Splashed in the most glorious shades of pink, green, blue, and purple (in spectacular shiny paint!) I immediately fell in love with the painted creature, and hung it right above my computer.  Then, two days ago I saw this same little critter on the cover of a book! A trip to the library with my daughter revealed that this charming chameleon is actually a character in a children's book written by Leo Lionni, titled "A Color of His Own." A wonderful little story about a sad chameleon who wants nothing more than a colour to call his own. Desperate, he decides to plant himself on a green leaf, and never move again - he will be a green! But, autumn comes, the leaf turns yellow and red, and the chameleon is sad again. That is, until another chameleon comes along. The two (happy) friends set off together, proud of who they are.

Reading the little fable, I realized something about my little girl, who has Aspergers. She has never been like other girls her age. Ever. Well, except for the fact that her favourite colour is pink. Most little girls like dolls, and babies. Princesses, puppies, ponies, and bunnies all come to mind. You know - sugar and spice and everything nice? Well, my girl likes dinosaurs. She almost can't stand how cute they are. She plays carnivores trying to eat herbivores, and the herbivores protecting themselves with all that nature has given them - horns, spikes, club tails, armoured bodies. You will hear her in her room, roaring like a dinosaur for most of the day. And she won't go anywhere without a dinosaur or two clutched in her hands. 

Here is the worst part. When her obsession with dinosaurs started a year ago, I did everything in my power to dissuade her from it. I told her to put the dinosaur toys away at the store, and I would point her in the direction of the "girl" toys. I even went as far as to tell her that dinosaurs were for boys (gasp!) Shame on me. I was making her sad, just like the chameleon in the story. I wanted her to be the same colour as all the other girls around her. But, her colours are different. And I can't imagine how I must have made her feel by telling her she needed to change her colours. I mean really, it's probably going to be difficult enough for her to fit in, without mommy telling her she needs to try harder.
Won't. Happen. Ever. Again.

She has yet to find her other chameleon, but she will. And she will be happy because she will find someone with colours like hers. In the meantime, mommy and daddy are here loving her colours.  And if you ever happen to walk by our colourful little house, you will probably  hear three little dinosaurs happily roaring inside.