Two of our granddaughters, ages seven and five, spent the night with us last night. Needless to say, a good time was had by all. A very good time. There was this one thing, though, that left me (almost) speechless.
Here’s what ‘happened’…
Laney has a couple of games on one of Elizabeth’s old
phones. One of them is a fashion design game. The other is a gymnastics game.
She asked if she could have some ‘phone time’ while Landrey was in the bathtub.
“Sure,” I said. “And then when it’s your turn to take a bath, Landrey can have
a turn.”
They both readily agreed to the idea, so off Landrey and I
went to get her bath started, while Laney settled into a comfy chair to play
the game. A few minutes later I came back into the living room and Laney said, “Nanna,
come look at my girl. She took second place in the gymnastics contest.”
“That’s great!” I replied, “Congratulations.”
So far nothing out of the ordinary, right? You are probably
even wondering why I’m taking up space in this column to tell you this story,
right? I know I would be if I were you. Well, you don’t have to wonder any
longer, because now I’m going to tell you about the ‘one thing’.
She came over to where I was standing to show me the gymnastics
suit she’d dressed her girl in…and the mask she’d chosen for her.
“See? She has a strawberry mask. I like it. I wonder if they
really make those.”
My knee-jerk reaction was to think to myself, “Seriously?
Did she just say that? Is that what we’ve come to? People whose video game
characters have to wear masks? Masks that seven year-old little girls wish they
had?”
My next thought was, “How sad is that!” And I still hold to
that. But thankfully before I opened my mouth and inserted my foot, I got to
the place in my thought process of thinking, “I wish so much that she still
thought masks were only for her momma (who is a nurse) to wear at work, but
since they aren’t, I am oh so very thankful that she is as resilient and strong
as she is.”
I am thankful she isn’t scared of the world we now live in.
I’m thankful that she doesn’t resent the rules and that she isn’t letting this
new normal rob her of seeing the world as a fun and happy place to be.
I’m not usually at a loss for words, but this time I was. And
as it turns out, I’m glad I was, because had they been on the tip of my tongue
like they usually are, they would have been the wrong ones. And had I said
them, I would have missed out on learning a very important lesson from a very special
little girl—one whose beauty (inside and out) I will never get tired of talking
about.
Love,
Momma D
Copyright 2020 Darla Noble
No part of this can be used or copied without permission from the author.
