Tuesday, December 18, 2007

My middle child hears voices and they tell her what to do.

When Rose, my MIL, comes to visit she frequently brings gifts of food. Dark Chocolates. Fine pastries. Delicate Truffles. Interesting shaped pastas. The kids are fascinated and always on their toes with excitement with each gift. I, on the other hand, flip the product over to check the expiration date. The chocolate expired in October of 2005. The truffles were marked December of ‘06. The pasta expired when Lola was born. I smile, thank her, and secretly chuck the gifts. Loving, generous, and cheap.

This time Rose did good. She found an un-expired gingerbread nativity set. Where do your purchase such an item? I do not know. MIL-R-US, perhaps. Nevertheless, the kiddos had a wonderful time assembling this on our very first snow day of the season.
While Jay took his time reading the directions and examining the box for clues of how to construct, Lola was already half way done with decorating the baby Jesus.

“Lola, baby Jesus does not look like that on the box!” Jay holds the box up so that Lola can see what Jesus looks like.


“Jay, I am not finished with Jesus.” She is completely in her own world as she gives baby Jesus more and more fondant icing making him a very plump baby Jesus.


“LOLA. LOOOOOOOLA, look at this picture. See this? You are not following the directions.” Jay is getting more and more aggravated as Lola is not conforming to the picture of baby Jesus on the box.

“Jay. Sometimes I need to listen to my heart for directions.” Lola breaks her concentration and speaks. I look at her, gently push aside her blond wisps of hair, smell her glorious neck, and am convinced she is the next greatest philosopher to mankind.

“LOOK. LOOK AT THE BOX. Baby Jesus has eyes, an ear, and a mouth to whisper good things to you. YOU ARE DOING BABY JESUS ALL WRONG!!! You are DOING HIM WRONG.” Jay is screaming at Lola. I walk over to him and whisper in his ear, knowing that as the eldest child he loves to follow the rules, much like myself. I tell him that sometimes people do not have to follow the directions because their hearts have better plans for a better outcome.

Her outcome is not really so much better then the picture on the box, but she proudly says…

“Sometimes, and sometimes all of the time… my girl heart tells me the directions and I listen to my heart. And sometime my girl heart is just sleeping.” Lola looks at us as she gives baby Jesus another layer of icing and then moves onto the gingerbread camels.
And so dear friends. I am thankful to have three children and to celebrate their differences. I love that Jay, like myself, loves rules and feels comforted by directions. I love Lola, also like myself, loves to follow what her girl heart tells her. I am so blessed with a third child, whom is developing a personality as we speak (and sleeping 11 hours at night), and we can’t wait to learn more about her with each day.

16classy comments:

Unknown said...

11 hours at night?! Good for you!

Gah! Cooking with little kids?! I can't fathom. You're my brave hero :)

lattemommy said...

She's sleeping!!! I can't believe you left that as a footnote to your post! That deserves a post unto itself! I'm so happy for you. Did Ferberizing work, or did you try some other method?

I think you're right about Lola - she's an amazing little philosopher for sure! "Sometimes I need to listen to my heart for directions." Wow. Deep. How old is she again?????

Kat said...

How precious are your kids? Good grief! That conversation is too cute. It always amazes me that my kids can be so different when they all came from the same two parents. I just love that.
Where does one find a gingerbread nativity? That looks like so much fun!

AutoSysGene said...

Great to hear that you are now getting an 11 hour break. Yea!

I love that Lola is so sure of herself now. As she grows older, I hope she doesn't lose that feeling. Sometimes the voices in our head can turn out to be a great thing.

I see great things for all of your kids in the future.

WTG Mom!!

Crystal D said...

Oh bless her little girl heart. What a smart thing to say. Some things you can just never forget.

TheOneTrueSue said...

I love that you know them so well - know what it is that is bothering them, that they are not just randomly freaking out. Sometimes I forget my kids are actual little people, and not just kids.

Unknown said...

That is AWESOME that she's sleeping!! How exciting!??!!?!?!

Lola seriously cracks me up. I honestly think that she is a vision of what my future is going to be like. I predict that my daughter will be the middle child of three or four, not sure yet. She has this personality that is just to die for and it continually keeps me on my toes and laughing! As does Lola's!!

And I am QUITE curious as to where one finds a gingerbread nativity set!

Victoria said...

Sooo sweet. Don't you just want to bottle those little insights.

Oh, and "MIL-R-US" cracked me up!!

Christina said...

That is sweet. She'll love reading this when she's older and seeing all of the fun things she said at this age.

And I had an aunt much like your MIL. We always had to check expiration dates. They must have shopped at the same place.

ConverseMomma said...

My girl-heart tells me that I love this blog. I'm listening to it.

Cecily R said...

Oh, I heart your kids!

I wish I listened to my heart for directions more often. If we all did, I am completely convinced the world would be a glorious utopia.

Caroline C. Bingham said...

a sleeping baby? what's that like? meanwhile, the more the merrier also applies to frosting...

adequatemom said...

I LOVE this post! And yay for sleeping through the night! I think it's great that you can enjoy and appreciate all the differences in your children's personality ... will make for much Mommy peacekeeping over the years! Love your new profile pic too!

Kellan said...

What a precious story - her "girl heart" - soooo sweet. You have such sweet children and I loved this story. Take care. Kellan

Amy said...

What a great story. I loved it!
Thanks for sharing.

Rachel said...

Awwwwwwwww ~ beautiful! Adorable.
i love the girl heart talking.
What a darling!!!

 

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