Okay, now for the story…
My daughter Elizabeth walked into the kitchen the other day to find five year-old Laney on the floor, with a pencil in her hand, a piece of paper on the floor in front of her, and her hamster, Paddington, standing in the middle of the paper…just standing there while Laney traced around his tiny little feet with her pencil.
“What are you doing, Laney?” Elizabeth asked.
“I’m tracing Paddington’s footprints so that someday when he
gets old and dies I’ll have a memory of him,” Laney answered, as if a hamster
standing perfectly still on a piece of paper getting his paws traced was the
most natural thing in the world.
Elizabeth didn’t really know what to say, so after she wiped the oh-my-gosh-that's-the-sweetest-thing-I’ve-ever-heard
tears from her eyes, she said something like, “Oh, that’s sweet,” or “You’re
right, that will make a special memory.”
I mean seriously, what do
you say to something like that?
I may not know what the exact right thing to say is, but I know what you should do with moments like that.
You go with it. You appreciate what they consider worthy of
tucking away in their heart to remember now and forever. And you never, ever laugh,
make light of the situation, or tell them what they are doing is silly or dumb.
Just because something isn’t important to you doesn’t mean it isn’t. Remember: dismissing
your child’s feelings and giving them the impression that they aren’t important
will stomp your child’s self-confidence in the dirt; making them afraid to
share with you, to express their thoughts, or acknowledge their feelings (even
to themselves).
Instead, make sure your words and actions send a message
loud and clear that what matters to them matters to you…that what makes their
heart happy (or sad), makes yours the same…and that your most precious memories come from watching them make theirs.
Love,
Momma D
Momma D
Copyright 2018 Darla Noble. No part of this can be copied or used without permission from the author.
