Free

"It's not working," she said, frustrated. "This is not the way it's supposed to look." The first grader sitting in front of the mirror today was pouting. And studying the crown on top of her head. "These triangles are supposed to stick up. And mine are bending over. This is not the way it's supposed to look." I stood behind her and studied the reflection in the mirror. It looked pretty good to me. A crown, cut out of white printer paper. And decorated with colored Sharpies. And then taped into a circle. "It looks good," I reassured my daughter. First graders are so cute, I thought. Really, anything a first grader puts on her head looks pretty good. "It's supposed to be a Statute of Liberty crown," she explained. "But mine doesn't look right." Ah. I smiled. "Well," I said, "a crown like that can be whatever you want it to be. Which means your Statue of Liberty crown is perfect."

And it really was. After all, isn't that the whole point?