... for Childhood!

Today, I really listened to the words in Pink's song, "Perfect."  I am going to put some of the lyrics here, but I have modified them from the actual to avoid showing curse words.  What I heard was the following:

Chorus:
Pretty, pretty please
Don't you ever, ever feel
Like your less than ------- perfect.
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like your nothing
You're ------- perfect to me.
Verse 2:
You're so mean,
When you talk, About yourself, You are wrong.
Change the voices, In your head
Make them like you Instead.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with 2 other mothers of 6-year-olds this weekend.  One mentioned that her daughter had come home from daycare and told the mother that her (the 6-year-old's) belly was fat.  The mother told her that her belly wasn't fat and that she (the mother) liked her belly the way it was. 

The other mother went on to say that her daughter had come home from the same daycare in tears about how she needed to buy all new dresses because nobody liked her clothes.  The mother asked the child if she (the child) liked her dresses and the child said yes, so the mom said, "Then who cares what anyone else thinks!"

Now you may be wondering how these stories and the song relate to my topic of thankfulness tonight.  Well, both of these stories horrified me because these are 2 of Hannah's friends from school, and whatever they experience this summer is bound to show up in conversation/play when school starts.  So the sweet innocence of childhood is fast ending for these girls and could soon end for my daughter as well.  I am extremely blessed that Hannah's beloved Bubba (my mom) watches Hannah over the summer.  I know that Hannah can be a handful, especially for a grandmother, and mom could use the rest, but she comes to play and care for Hannah while I head off to work during some of the most active hours of her day.  That time that Mom spends with Hannah is allowing my beautiful child to enjoy at least a few more weeks of innocence, when she can continue to KNOW that she is a beautiful creation of God.  She can avoid the negative talk of her peers and prevent the negative talk in her head.  I know I won't be able to protect her forever, but for now she can enjoy her summer and I can rest easy knowing she isn't being beaten down... yet. 

So, Today I am Thankful for Childhood!

... for Quality Time!

So yesterday as I was trying to leave to head to calling hours for a member of our church, Hannah was lamenting the fact that I was leaving her yet again.  She said, "But Mommy, I wanted to spend quality time with you!" 

Let's set aside the fact that she was begging for my time (oh yeah, big guilt trip there) and start with the fact that she is 6 and is asking for "quality time!"  I had no idea she had ever even heard the phrase.  I asked where she heard that and she said she just made it up and then repeated she wanted quality time with me.  That kid cracks me up!

Now for the guilt trip.  It is true that I don't get to spend as much time with her as I should.  She deserves more time and my best time.  Sometimes, I am so exhausted from work I don't feel like doing anything, so she doesn't get anywhere near that.

So, tonight, after dinner, she was playing by herself and I asked if I could play with her.  She actually started to refuse but then relented.  So much for that quality time, right?  No, in fact, we colored two pictures on the floor.  Then she took before and after pictures of our pictures (the before was before we had written our names and the after was after our names were added, of course).  Then, we looked at pictures from the movie "Brave" and I had to read all the captions.  Then she started playing songs from my iTunes playlist, but she only lets me listen to the first few chords, so it sort of feels like a one contestant version of "Name that Tune."  She even says things like, "Mommy, this is your favorite song," and then switches happily to the next song.  Then we read 2 books.  The second one she read almost completely on her own.  Finally, we ended with about 15 minutes of "Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian" while eating a popsicle.  Funny side note, Hannah has never seen this movie and she still told me to, "watch this! watch this!" at any scene she thought might be interesting. 

So after a quiet evening with Hannah, I have to say that Today I am Thankful for Quality Time!