I have a very emotionally mature daughter on my hands.
when something upsets her, she comes to me and sits down and tells me what’s bothering her.
she has never resorted to screaming non-verbal fits that are so popularly used by her brothers.
she explains her feelings and patiently waits for your words of comfort and wisdom.
she counts on them.
she thrives on them.
so, when I read her a few stories from her “Book of Bible Stories”, tonight, I was totally taken aback when she suddenly began sobbing.
at first, they were very small tears accompanied with flushed cheeks.
soon, after I acknowledged her apparent turmoil, it escalated to heavy outcries and an indistinguishable slurry of words.
she managed to calm herself down enough to tell me, “I hope I never die.”
wha???
where did this come from?
we’re reading about God’s wonderful creations and what magnificent bodies he has given us
and BAM!
out of nowhere.
she is on her deathbed.
how do you reply to this?
I went the long, complicated but truthful route, and told her:
“everyone is imperfect. we don’t have perfect bodies and sometimes our bodies get sick and stop working and some people even die. and sometimes something bad happens to a person and that may cause them to die. but we don’t have to be afraid of dying. we take care of our bodies and we do our best to protect ourselves and mommy and daddy do their best to protect you and your brothers. and God will take care of all of us. when you feel scared, just tell God and he will be there to listen. you have life-everlasting in store for you. just remember that.”
that is pretty much how “cut and dry” she likes things delivered to her.
and she accepts it.
it soon calmed her down and she hugged me and asked if she could go to bed.
that’s my brave little girl.
but, the thing that really struck me hard (because, believe you, me, she had me fighting back the tears) was what her brother did.
when she first began to cry, Zander came over to her and wrapped his little arms around her and patted her back saying, “otay, O-ee. I eer. I eer fer ooh.”
for those of you without a “Dictionary for two-year olds”:
“it’s okay, Zoe. I’m here. I’m here for you.”
everything I was able to hold in at the beginning totally flooded the room at that point.
my babies.
they love each other.
7 responses to “bedtime story…”
aawww!… i’m almost in tears here!
Zoe is such a mature little girl, i don’t know what touched me more… Zoe or Zander’s reaction… what a bunch of beautiful kids you’ve got 🙂
Your babies know what love is because they have watched you and Jason love each other, and have been taught how to love.
You guys are doing such a great job raising your little ones. Ben and I work every day to instill such wonderful, kind qualities in Margot.
It is not easy, but SO worth it!
Good grief, I’m sobbing.
When Georges was 2 I was crying about something, and he came into the kitchen, pulled up a chair, proceeded to climb up on a counter to fetch tissues for me. He was preverbal, so no words… just tissues. Of course, I just cried harder.
Lovely lovely children of yours. 😀
Claudia,
I know, they both blow my mind at times. all three of them, actually.
Lauren,
the very hardest things to do are the ones with the biggest rewards.
you guys are doing so great with Margot. she is so sweet and lovable!
Wende,
our kids know JUST exactly how to pull at our heartstrings, don’t they?
My eyes are all teary. Such sweet babies. Makes a mommy’s heart so full and happy and ready to burst when her children love each other. Sniff sniff. Such a good mom.
Sadly! 😀 Oh, and I blogged this. 😀
aww, first I’m impressed with your answer to her. (gonna have to sock that one away to use someday!) and of course I’m impressed with his answer to her. *sigh* what a doll.