My Little Girl

Sometimes my little girl is baffling to me. Yet there are many things about her I very much understand! For example, she inherited my independence, and she isn't afraid to try anything if she wants it bad enough, even at the expense of getting into trouble. Not sure if that is a good quality she and I share; but at least I "get it" that she is like that.

On the other hand, she is a messy, disorganized, doesn't-really-care-about-the-details kid. Her room can turn into a trash pit faster than anything I've seen - and it can stay that way - for days - and days. If I didn't "inspire" her to clean it up, she'd live like that quite contently, I'm afraid. That aspect of her, I totally don't understand.

Last night, I was touched by her tender heart which I don't always get a glimpse of because she tends to be my "toughie." It was a long week - school had its ups and downs (I told the story about me whacking her on the head on April's Fools Day - but there was another misunderstanding my daughter had been involved in that day at school involving a joke she - encouraged by her friends - pulled on another little girl, who didn't get it and who got very upset)...but anyway, alls well that ends well.

I didn't get my kids rounded up to go to bed til 10:30 p.m. last night because they were having fun, Dan was sleeping on the couch, and I was just being lazy. Finally, I think I realized Anna was just over-tired. You can tell when that happens to a kid, can't you! So, I told them to get ready for bed - and asked them to clean up their stuff since we're having company this weekend. I noticed Anna seemed quiet, almost sad, but I figured she just didn't want to go to bed yet.

When I went up to say good-night, Anna was crying. At first I thought it was because I had told her to go to bed, to clean up (her least favorite activity), or over some injustice her brother had done to her. I sat down beside her on the bed and went through the whole "what's wrong" questioning, trying to figure her out.

Her reason for the tears was simple. That day at school, the Bible story of the day was about the Crucifixion of Jesus. I guess her teacher had tears in her eyes while reading of Jesus' love, that He endured that horrible death for us to cleanse us from our sins, if we but believe and accept.

Anna told me, "I wanted to cry then too when my teacher was crying, but I decided to wait until I got home. So now I'm crying." And she had a good cry and went to bed, smiling.

If only dealing with all of life's issues was as easy as that: a good cry to cleanse the mind, heart, and soul - and then let it go, move on, and have a good day (or night as the case may be).