A week ago . . .
Sometimes my kids freak me out. They bicker and fight so much that that seems the norm -- so much so that I forget what sweethearts they can be.
This morning on the 20-minute drive to school they fought and fought and fought. This afternoon on the 20-minute drive home from school they fought and fought and fought. It was ugly and very mean-spirited.
During dinner tonight (after the conversation related in my last post), C (6 y/o). got excused from the table and sent to bed for behaving very badly. Once in bed, she cried and cried. By this point, Katie had left home for the evening. Alone I tried to wrestle with a very fussy baby A. and a loudly bawling C.
Amid the chaos, S. (9 y/o) came up to me and said she was going to go talk to C. to calm her down. I said that was fine. What I did not know then was that S. sneaked two books into C's room with her. She read two bedtime stories to her little sister.
Meanwhile, out in the living room, I wrestled with cranky baby A. She wanted nothing to do with me. She only wanted L. (8 y/o) (she just *loves* L.). So L. picked her up, and baby A. cuddled up and laid her head on L's shoulder. L. got the baby's pacifier, blankie, and favorite stuffed animal. She also picked out pajamas for the kid. Baby A. was quite content as long as L. held her. A short time later, L. set her down on my lap and went to her room. Deeply distraught, baby A climbed off my lap and went waddling down the hallway calling out L's name: "YaaaYaaa, YaaaYaaa." So L. took over once again.
This evening my two oldest girls voluntarily took good care of my two youngest girls. And they did a great job. They were so sweet, gentle, and patient with the cranky little ones. It surprised me. And warmed my heart.
The following day . . .
Remember how S. was really sweet to C. last night, reading her bedtime stories and comforting her? Well, today C. wrote S. a thank-you note. As near as I can make out, it says "Thank you for all that you do. I will give you a kiss and I'll say I Love You! I am . . . that is a . . . one more big smooch." Then C. applied some type of "lipstick" and kissed the paper -- hence the grease stain right in the middle.
At the bottom of the paper, which you can see best in the second photo, C. drew a picture of a panda climbing up a bamboo plant. She did so because, as you probably know, pandas are S's favorite animal.
I sure love my big-hearted six-year-old! Where on earth did that kid come from?
Lovely to read this. There's hope!
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