I tried something the other night that my grandmother used to say to us. I know.
Sounds scary, right? It was
cousins sleepover night, so there were children all over the house on the floor
and on couches – anywhere but actually in beds.
We ended up with two of the female persuasion on the floor next to our
bed (Cailyn and Noa). It all started off quite sweetly. Cailyn, who had to get some sleep because she
had school the next day (her spring break
isn’t until next week), read Noa a Bible story and the two of them held
hands and Cailyn prayed. Talk about a
priceless moment. After that Cailyn was
pretty much ready to conk out. She had
been up early for school, had played a softball game, and as I said, had to up
early again for school the next day (Pastries
for Padres Day, in fact. Her dad was
coming down from the fire station to meet her at the school). Not so much Noa. She tossed and turned and giggled. Now I didn’t mind that so much, and would
probably have ignored it, but we did have that obligation to make sure Cailyn
at least showed up for school. Finally
Noa made an attempt to sneak around the foot of the bed. Not sure where she was going, but I sat up
and waited. Finally I channeled my inner
Nani, stifled my urge to chuckle, and sternly queried, “Noa, do you want me to
spank your fanny?” She stood and looked
at me in utter disbelief. She slowly
staggered back to her pillow and buried her head. Chris whispered that she was crying. Now wait a minute. All I did was ask a question. And all she had to do was answer it. If she had said “No,” I would have said, “Oh,
OK,” we both would have laughed, and all would be well. But no.
I get a barrage of tears instead.
When she rolled over and looked up at Chris, good ol’ Nana invited her
to come into the bed with us. And in
Nana’s arms, she was asleep in seconds.
So
here’s my dilemma. Do I worry about our
relationship? Are we still OK? Will she still love me in the morning? Or on the other hand … it worked. It actually worked. She got quiet and fell asleep and Cailyn had
enough energy to make it to school the next day. Way to go, Inner Nani. I pondered the question for a good minute or
two (at least until I finished the crossword
puzzle I was working on). And then I,
too, succumbed to the exhaustion of the day, and slept.
So
here’s the rest of the story. When Noa
woke up in the morning she stumbled into my office … and crawled up into my lap
for a hug. And after they left around
lunchtime, when I ventured back into my office to begin the process of
straightening up, I found a note on my desk from Noa. It read, “(picture of a heart) I DadDad.”
Hey, I used to get word placement mixed up a lot, too, and she’s just
four years old. So I guess we’re all
good.
But
I have to say, I just don’t understand you girls. Never have.
Never will. It all part of your alluring
mystique, I guess.
Psalms
37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and
he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Father,
thank you for those wonderful creations of yours called girls. I know you love ‘em. I do, too.
Amen.
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