Last night, the family had big plans. Erick and I were going to the Jazz Under the Stars event at the Planetarium, and Sophia was looking forward to an evening with her favorite babysitter. She was particularly excited about showing off her new fish. (A story for another day.)
Things didn't work out as planned. About twenty minutes after we planned to leave, I got a text from our reliable and awesome sitter that she'd been in bed sick all day, except to get up to throw up...and had forgotten to call.
In that intervening twenty minutes, Sophia had been despairing in her room. Crying and telling Corol (pronounced Coral) all about how she felt forgotten and alone. I can identify with those feelings, of course. Any time someone forgets a commitment, it's hard not to take it personally. Still, as the person most often forgetting, I can't say much. Sophia, on the other hand, forgets nothing and has a hard time understanding those who do...
Even after we had heard the truth from the sitter, Sophia was sad and disappointed. As were we, but we're adults, so we saved our emoting for later. We painted a canvas together to lighten the mood. That worked for a few minutes. Then it was back to bed for Sophia, where this time she was despairing over the short amount of time left in the evening and a lack of decisiveness on her part that would likely result in no more fun before bed!
I was hanging out in there with her, although she offered, "Mommy, you can go have fun in the other room. I'll just be sad alone." I declined after making sure she didn't really want me to leave. I was about to just give up, when salvation walked through the door.
Erick handed Sophia a rolled up piece of paper, which she discovered to be a treasure map. She looked at me and the clouds were gone from her eyes. She almost tried to hang onto her sadness for a minute, but it couldn't win over the mystery and promise of a treasure map.
They tromped around the house, past the Spinning Discs of Doom (the record player) and other obstacles and landmarks made up of household items. They found the treasure after a search that lasted just the right amount of time. The treasure was the last cookie. A treasure that Sophia had coveted all day, so it was a good one. Sophia's feelings of sadness were lost to the fun with her daddy and guide. A daddy who knows just how to lift the heart of his sometimes desperate girl.
Things didn't work out as planned. About twenty minutes after we planned to leave, I got a text from our reliable and awesome sitter that she'd been in bed sick all day, except to get up to throw up...and had forgotten to call.
In that intervening twenty minutes, Sophia had been despairing in her room. Crying and telling Corol (pronounced Coral) all about how she felt forgotten and alone. I can identify with those feelings, of course. Any time someone forgets a commitment, it's hard not to take it personally. Still, as the person most often forgetting, I can't say much. Sophia, on the other hand, forgets nothing and has a hard time understanding those who do...
Even after we had heard the truth from the sitter, Sophia was sad and disappointed. As were we, but we're adults, so we saved our emoting for later. We painted a canvas together to lighten the mood. That worked for a few minutes. Then it was back to bed for Sophia, where this time she was despairing over the short amount of time left in the evening and a lack of decisiveness on her part that would likely result in no more fun before bed!
I was hanging out in there with her, although she offered, "Mommy, you can go have fun in the other room. I'll just be sad alone." I declined after making sure she didn't really want me to leave. I was about to just give up, when salvation walked through the door.
Erick handed Sophia a rolled up piece of paper, which she discovered to be a treasure map. She looked at me and the clouds were gone from her eyes. She almost tried to hang onto her sadness for a minute, but it couldn't win over the mystery and promise of a treasure map.
They tromped around the house, past the Spinning Discs of Doom (the record player) and other obstacles and landmarks made up of household items. They found the treasure after a search that lasted just the right amount of time. The treasure was the last cookie. A treasure that Sophia had coveted all day, so it was a good one. Sophia's feelings of sadness were lost to the fun with her daddy and guide. A daddy who knows just how to lift the heart of his sometimes desperate girl.
This. Is fantastic. It made me feel all the feelings.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I'm binge reading your blog today which is why you're getting a comment in June on an entry from March. I feel like we're catching up on everything from the semester! Except you're not here in real life, which would be slightly better, but not as many pictures.
I'm glad you enjoyed all my ramblings and the insanity of our fam... Wish I could have relayed it all in person too.
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