January 20, 2004
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Grown-Up Enough For Scary
Little Ms. Three was enjoying "video night" with Ms. Six the other day -- to the degree possible. Watching "Franklin and the Green Knight," she was hovering in the doorway of the tv room, eyes on the screen, feet shifting a little underneath the enveloping folds of my t-shirt-worn-as-a-nightgown as she hesitated. I was working at my laptop in the next room and listening to the theme music. It turned ominous. Ms. Three's feet danced -- and turned. Racing as fast as her small body could carry her, she scurried across the floor and cuddled up beside me on the sofa, burrowing under my arm.
"I'm not quite grown up enough for the scary part yet, Mommy," she addmitted, adding with prosaic patience. "But when I'm a Mommy like you I'll be grown up enough for all the scary parts."
I did not say, holding her soft body close and carressing that sweet face with its innocent earnestness that only "three" can truly possess, that in truth no-one is grown-up enough for the scary parts.
The saddest thing, really, is that there is any expectation we would be.
Comments (15)
Aw! Bless her little sweet heart.
Very well said
...such truths in so few words.
Faith, really. Do you have any idea how profound you often are???
I am always amazed when a child says something that indicates such a high level of self awareness and introspect - "I'm not grown up enough for the scary part yet, mommy". Part of the fascination of watching a child grow. They are full of little suprises that shake our perception of the way things are like bumping a branch shakes loose the new fallen snow.
In our naivety we don't even know what the scary parts are until they sweep over us leaving us shaken and wondering.
I believe you have what takes to be a good writer; the ability to see meaning in the most casual events of dailey life.
Bless both your hearts!!!!
the local VFW has a tank of some kind parked outside, and the boy noticed it the other day. "ooh! mommy! a tank! it's there becuase there aren't any bad guys any more, right?"
i just guiltily agreed. cuz you're right, with some things, you're never really old enough.
Beautiful.
What an amazing memory! Children of innocence. I wish you peace! MAKE a great day! Cathi
Yeah, that's really sad. No wonder adults like watching Peter Pan so much. Who really wants to grow up? There's a part of us that always will remain a child.
One of the things I blogged about some time ago, was the disappointment I experienced at discovering that adulthood wasn't a magical place where everything made sense, and everyone was "old enough," as you put it. I hear ya.
Without the scary parts, I'd have no idea the good parts were happening. I wouldn't want to wish an absolute absence of scary parts on anyone -- maybe just a lot less of them.
We can only hope for the milder version of scary for our children ~ but have no control over that after a certain point... Probably why we hold them so close while we can.
What a touching blog, and beautifully said
The last time the Professor hassled me about not being more consistent in my daily perusal of world news reports, I told him I couldn't handle his level of saturation...I could only deal with the world's woes in small doses.
Scary, indeed.
This post was incredibly poignant.
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