Out of the mouthes of babes
Emma and I often have some of our most enlightening conversations while we are in the car. She has a pretty good set up. I drive her around, and in turn she bosses me around. It’s usually quite funny to me because here’s this little wisp of a girl, strapped snugly into her car seat, telling me that I should “go mommy!” when the light is red. Our conversations are usually full of girlish silliness, which my daughter is very prone to. Sometimes our talks are of what she wants, what she would like to eat for lunch, or what she did at dance class or gymnastics. The other day our conversation took a turn that I was not expecting.
We talk about Michael everyday. He is a part of our family and I have always made it a point to mention him to Emma on daily basis. I did the same for Bryan when he was gone from her for so long. We talked about “papa” like he was home with us. “What would papa want to eat for lunch, Emma?”, and questions like that, often came up in discussions. Emma knows Mike is in Iraq. She told me one time, not too long ago, that “Mike is in a rack!” I tried to help her understand that he was not in a rack, but rather he is in Iraq. “Oh never mind!” I thought to myself, “If the girl wants to believe that her oldest brother is somewhere sitting on a rack then why would I try and educate her about a war zone?” I don’t know what kind of rack she had in mind exactly, but with her limited knowledge I can only imagine she meant a towel rack, a dish rack, or a coat rack.
Then about two weeks ago we were driving to Bryan’s work, and Emma spotted a horse out in a meadow as we drove by. “Mama! I see a horsey!” She was so excited and I asked her what color it was, and it morphed from being a brown horse, to being a brown horse with red and pink hair (a punk rock horse I am to assume). Somehow this talk of horses then morphed into a talk of modes of transportation. This was not a connection I was expecting her to make. She is not old enough, in my mind anyway, to understand that a horse and an airplane are similar in that they are vehicles we use to get from one place to another. So, Emma pipes up and loudly proclaims “Mama, I am going to fly on the airplane!” To which I reply “Oh really now?! And who is going to fly with you?” Emma reassured me that her papa was going to take her onto the airplane. “Oh really? So, you and papa are going on the airplane? And just where are you and papa going, little girl?”
“Mama! Papa is going to fly with me to Iraq and we will get our Michael.” she squealed loudly!
I am glad I had my sunglasses on. How did she come to know and understand that Iraq is a place? How I pray that she will not have to know much more than that, for a very, very long time. How I pray for the day when she can see her Michael walking down that long ramp and into the arms of his anticipating family.
Oh Claire, this little girl. She just has to be light and music and laughter. My, my. I know, along with some devilish for good measure. That was just sweet.
…out of the mouth of babes, Claire! She is absolutely adorable..
Love that photo~ a princess perched on her pony! Well, in reality, a good sized horse. How very bright she is in making the connections. Delightful post, Claire!
It is amazing what the gather without us ever telling them. May she see her Mike home soon.
It is amazing what they gather without us ever telling them. May she see her Mike home soon.
Adorable! I cant wait to hear about how excited she is when she sees Mike again. I bet she is going to be so excited, just like the rest of the family. :)
Miz Claire and Mr Hooah!, Emma is the most precious child I’ve seen lately. Besides my grand babies, that is….
They really can amaze you at what they understand and retain. My soon to be 5 grand daughter has memories of her PopPop from age 2.
How blessed we are…
I’m equally sure that Mike is just as eager to see her as she is him. Big brothers are pretty special guys to little girls.
Bon: You nailed it! Yep, Emma is sweetness, light and devilishness all wrapped up into one little pixie!
Piper, Cathy, Mary Alice, Jade and KyWoman, thank you all so much. She really is our adorable little comic relief, and she can bring us to tears sometimes with her tenderness. We are all waiting for the day when she can run up that ramp and see our Michael! Yeah!!
Claire that girl is full of surprises and super smart I will also add cute as a button to the list……I can’t wait to hear tales of Mike’s homecoming as well. I am with you I think it was a punk rock horse too…..I wanna see one of those ;)
Claire she is adorable and your post brought tears to my eyes for you! Such a sweet comment that meant so much…..one you will tell her about when she is as old as my oldest is (about 6 month from hitting 18), the one that will make you both cry, you for her growing up on you and remembering the day she said it and she for knowing how hard her growing up on you is.
My oldest daughter and I had a very special relationship since she was born during Desert Storm…..I love all my children the same, but that unique bond I had with her when she was all mine…never changed….she just comes up to me for no reason, this beautiful woman-child and says “Mommy, can I have a hug?” She has no clue that most days she does this, I usually end up in my bathroom with tears rolling down my face…….I will miss her so much if she goes away to college, I hate to say it, but I pray she chooses to stay at home.
Okay huge post of me rambling over things, been a rough couple days….I’ll end my bantering and wish you a safe end of your weekend and let you know you are in my thoughts…….and Mike in my prayers….
God bless,
ASW
Sweet, sweet, sweet posting Claire! I can hardly wait to hear that all of your family is together again!!
Blessings,