I wish I could be like my daughter, sometimes
I am constantly amazed and counting my blessings for having begotten a daughter who is so wonderful. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ryann has the coolest personality. Sometimes she is the sweetest, kindest, most loving four-year-old you've ever met. If the situation warrants, she will sit back and let things happen so that other people are happy. Other times, she is the sassiest wildcat you'll ever encounter.
Some people can't remember their childhoold hardly at all (Stu). Some people swear they remember their own birth. I remember lots of snapshots of time from when I was little, all the way back to when I was about two years old. While watching Ryann be so incredibly kind and sweet to a boy at the library the other day, I thought about what a callous child I was sometimes. I didn't mean to be that way. I loved people and animals and thought of myself as a kind person. One time in particular, I still think of with regret. Though I was only about five years old so I can hardly hold myself accountable since my brain was barely formed at the time. At the time I'm remembering, my little friend from down the street called to let me know her beloved hamster had died. I think this girl was probably a year or so older than me. I'd been to her house a few times (that I remember) and we'd played out in the neighborhood together some. My response to her tearful call....."So?" and then I remember giving the phone to my mom to hang up. She asked me about the conversation and urged me to call the neighbor back and apologize and tell her I felt bad her hamster had died.
Ryann is six months younger than I was at the time and she seems to understand human emotion and what people need to feel good much more than I did. While at the library last week, a boy a bit younger than she informed her she was standing on the balance board that looks like a butterfly. She kindly (and correctly) responded, "Oh, this is actually a dragonfly". The boy insisted, "No, it's a butterfly!" and Ryann again said, "Oh, no, it's a dragonfly" in a really sweet, gentle tone of voice. When the boy again disagreed, Ryann calmly said, "Ok, that's ok if you want to pretend this is a butterfly" and then grinned and shrugged at me like, "Whaddya do?"
Some people can't remember their childhoold hardly at all (Stu). Some people swear they remember their own birth. I remember lots of snapshots of time from when I was little, all the way back to when I was about two years old. While watching Ryann be so incredibly kind and sweet to a boy at the library the other day, I thought about what a callous child I was sometimes. I didn't mean to be that way. I loved people and animals and thought of myself as a kind person. One time in particular, I still think of with regret. Though I was only about five years old so I can hardly hold myself accountable since my brain was barely formed at the time. At the time I'm remembering, my little friend from down the street called to let me know her beloved hamster had died. I think this girl was probably a year or so older than me. I'd been to her house a few times (that I remember) and we'd played out in the neighborhood together some. My response to her tearful call....."So?" and then I remember giving the phone to my mom to hang up. She asked me about the conversation and urged me to call the neighbor back and apologize and tell her I felt bad her hamster had died.
Ryann is six months younger than I was at the time and she seems to understand human emotion and what people need to feel good much more than I did. While at the library last week, a boy a bit younger than she informed her she was standing on the balance board that looks like a butterfly. She kindly (and correctly) responded, "Oh, this is actually a dragonfly". The boy insisted, "No, it's a butterfly!" and Ryann again said, "Oh, no, it's a dragonfly" in a really sweet, gentle tone of voice. When the boy again disagreed, Ryann calmly said, "Ok, that's ok if you want to pretend this is a butterfly" and then grinned and shrugged at me like, "Whaddya do?"
Now, having said all that, here's how Ryann behaves for us at home. I'm sure after a long day of doling out the empathy for those outside her family, Ryann's got to have time to just "let it all hang out" and be herself.
Comments