You really have to be careful what you say
around children, don’t you? Oh, I know
they are so cute and fun to watch and listen to. It is inconceivable that anyone could fail to
notice them when they are so often engaged in such markedly adorable
behavior. “Oh, look. Baby just rolled over for the first
time.” “Look. Baby just took his first steps.” They even demand our attention when they
aren’t in the same room. “Hey, where’s
Baby? It’s awfully quiet in there.” But it’s so easy to ignore them and not even
realize they are around when you get engrossed in a particularly adult oriented
conversation.
Cailyn and I were having a chat yesterday
that revealed some very surprising statements.
The first one came not long after her Mom dropped her off and headed to
school. Cailyn looked up at me with her
big brown eyes and offered, “Hey, DadDad?
Y’know what? My mommy’s car just
drove around and smushed that little girl.”
Whoa.
Now that was a show stopper. I
tried to get some more information, but that was all she had to offer. I jotted down the data and reminded myself to
ask about that one. Later on I managed
to get Chris aside and share with her my concerns about our daughter-in-law’s
driving escapades. She laughed that “I-know-just-where-that-came-from”
laugh that Chris has had many opportunities to engage in over our years
together. Seems Chris had told April
about a news article she read concerning a lady who had accidentally run over
her son who had jumped out of the car to retrieve forgotten homework or
something. And within that context, she
had warned Cailyn to back away from the car while Mommy was driving away. Ah.
Not so great a leap, then. Not
any greater than Eve’s. She had been
warned not to eat the forbidden fruit.
She told the snake she wasn’t allowed to touch it. Sounds like she was making the prohibition
personal so she would be sure to remember it.
I returned to working on my sermon on one
computer while Cailyn went back to Disney, Jr. on the other one. Extended periods of silence is not a
condition Cailyn is particularly comfortable with, though. It didn’t take long for her to offer another
juicy tidbit. This one grabbed my
attention for a different reason than the last revelation. This one actually required even more
determination for me to maintain control.
This one made me want to explode with … laughter. She stopped in the middle of one of her
sessions with the Disney princesses and turned toward me. “DadDad,” she began. “My Daddy is a loser.” Now wait a minute. I almost spewed a mouthful of coffee on that
one. She adores her Daddy. Where in the world did that come from? Trying to remain objective soi a snot to
reveal the guffaw trying to manifest itself, I cautiously asked, “Why is your
Daddy a loser, Cailyn?” Her response was
immediate, “My daddy’s a loser because he losed his old fire ‘partment.” And there’s the answer. Perfectly reasonable. See, Nathan just transferred to a different
station from the one he has been working at.
He “lost” his old “fire department.”
Makes perfect sense.
Psalms 37:8 says, “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret — it leads only to
evil.”
Father, watch over Mommies while they drive
and Daddies at work. Amen.
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