Jada Pinkett Smith Is My Parenting Spirit Animal

Why I Mom-Stalk Jada.

I love Jada Pinkett Smith. I mom-stalk her.  I lap up everything she says about parenting, mothering, marriage, like a kitten laps milk. She speaks to me. I swear, she's my spirit animal.

But...her kids are so weird....

I see this a lot on social media,  on other blogs .... people

Not my Meme.

don't get Jaden and Willow. They talk about time travel, they cross dress, they shave their heads. 

This is what Jada does best. She allows her children to exist, to experiment, and to be themselves, regardless of what the world seems to think. (For the record, I think that her kids are often misunderstood and misrepresented by the media, but perhaps this is because my own kids are 'weird'.)

A Little Support Here?

I fell in mom-love with Jada when Willow shaved her head. 

I know what you're thinking: "What!?! She let her kid shave her head, like Crazy Britney, and you're OK with that?!?"

No, I'm not OK with it. I love it.  I was the kid in school who cut her hair for a school play, who once lopped off 14 inches of hair because I was bored. I've always felt that it's just hair.

When my 5 yr old wanted to put red streaks in her hair, I was all for it. I thought, "It's just hair, and furthermore, it's HER hair, not mine."

But everyone else thought I was crazy. I started to second guess myself.

Then Jada said this about Willow's hair. And I thought, "Hey, I'm not wrong about this! Finally, a little support!"  Punk has added a new color to her hair every time I dye mine (which is a lot), and she's thrilled, everyone has gotten used to it, and she learned that her body, and her choices matter.

When my nephew decides to wear his cousin's Anna Costume to play Frozen with the girls, and I don't freak out, I know Jada would agree. When people in Walmart give me dirty looks for telling the kids there are no girls' toys or boys' toys, there are just toys, or there are no boy's colors or girl's colors, there are just colors, I know Jada would have my back. 

Finding balance

The video at the top of this post is old -2012- but the

My spirit-animal looks amazing here.

message holds true, and is one that a lot of people need to hear even today.  Thanks, Jada. Thanks for reminding us that we matter, we have the right to be happy, and that in being happy, fulfilled, and complete, we become better mothers, better wives, and better people.

Who is your parenting spirit animal? Shout it out in the comments below.