her: Mommy, what was that noise?
me: It was the neighbor coming home.
her: How do you know?
me: Because I know all the noises.
her: Then who was that coming home?
me: The neighbor.
her: Which neighbor?
me: I don’t know which neighbor.
her: I thought you knew all the noises.
*long pause*
her: Is our house floating?
me: No.
her: What if it is?
me: It isn’t.
her: How do you know it isn’t?
me: Because our house is too heavy to float.
her: But what if there are balloons tied to the roof?
*long pause*
me: There aren’t.
her: How do you know?
me: Because I didn’t tie any balloons to the roof.
her: What if they are just there? Can I check?
me: No.
her: BUT!? ??
me: Okay. Check.
her: (looking out the window) I can’t tell! Oh no. What if we ARE floating?
me: We aren’t.
her: But what if you don’t know, Mommy?
*long pause*
me: You are just going to have to trust me.
And so she did. And went to sleep. Receiving truth isn’t always easy, but most of the time for me, rest soon follows.
is she 4 because i’m getting a lot of those questions too.
I love the times you can do a quick check to make sure it’s safe – there are so many times when you can’t…for your own life or your kids. It really comes back to belief and trust – no way around it
This made me cry. I’ve had a terrible day, ending with me losing my temper with my daughter. I’m wracked with guilt and remorse. I wish I had had this conversation with her, instead.
oh dear!! but you know, not too very long from now, the questions will stop. or maybe just change. because when those kiddos get a bit bigger, it seems that they don’t really wnat to know what we think… and they just want to know if they can go somewhere else… with frinds
i’m not saying that the never-ending questions should be enjoyed… but maybe seen with a golden glint…
Aren’t we all like that? At least some of the time? We ask “why?” or “what if?” and then, when we hear the truth, we just have to check, to make sure.
That is absolutely gorgeous!
What a very familiar conversation…the “but how do you know?” or “how can you tell?”
Love the photo of the balloons. Perhaps I should just issue a standing comment that I “love that photo”, because that pretty much applies to everything you post!
Wow. What a great story.
I love the long pauses. Where those long pauses are all of things you could have said but didn’t, you just paused. Sometimes pausing when my kids have done something that annoys me is the best option. The pause is usually better than what I wanted to do or say
That is so true! Thank you for sharing!
You’re so patient
Oh my word. This was so not to document my patience, let me assure you. These conversations are had on a very regular basis and frequently make me crazy. This just happens to be one time when I did not pull out my hair.
Dawn – I love your perspective of thinking of these talks with “a golden glint”. So true!
I heard your dad talking about this post on the radio this morning. I love to listen to him talk about his girls – you can tell he’s a dad full of love for and pride in his children. It’s also kind of fun to know who he is talking about and put faces to the names!
Anyway, thank you for the delightful reminder that in truth there is rest and peace. All I have to do is accept it. It might not always be easy, but it is always worth it.
I so can’t wait for these conversations!! LOL
First of all that image is beautiful, I love everything about it.
I’ve been apart of many conversation similar to this and I love how you ended it…
Receiving truth isn’t always easy, but most of the time for me, rest soon follows.
Something I must keep in mind during these trying moments.
I just love the fourth chapter of Hebrews. You know how there are some chapters in your Bible (or at least in my Bible) where there are so many things underlined and highlighted and annotated that you have to work to see the original words? Hebrews 4 is one of those for me.
Anyway, verse 9 is one of my favorites: “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.”
Isn’t it interesting how our interactions with our kids can be little parables? Thank you for pointing us Godward.
I love this. So magical and imaginative…the innocence and wonder are still intact.
Beautiful story. I love how things are always black and white for children. Has your daughter recently seen “Up”?
Imagine this conversation lasting eight straight hours, including through the closed door when you’re sitting on the toilet. That’s called homeschooling.
Oh Emily… Trust is SO hard isn’t it? I try so hard to figure out why I struggle with that one every single day. I know that I trust God – I know that I do. Isn’t it funny though, how we’re only willing to trust when the outcome is something that we’re happy with? What a wonderful post and as always, really stellar photography.
The comment right above mine from Laura actually made me snort and laugh – it was rather unattractive. I seriously thought I was the only moms whose kids followed her to the potty. Is there anything less dignified than peeing with an audience? I counted one time and 3 of my kids and a dog were there for moral support, I guess. I need to get a life.
xoxoxoxo
Oh my gosh, I love the long pauses. That just totally encapsulates the way conversations go with little kids! You’re thinking so hard about how to answer their questions so that they are satisfied. Not easy!
I just changed the link to your blog on my blog, so we are all set to go! I am sorry I didn’t do it before…hope it didn’t cause too much trouble for you Emily!
Carrie
I hate to tell you, but it doesn’t seem to get any better. Indy is the same way. Questions from the time he gets up until the time he does to bed. It can be exhausting, but I’d rather have all the crazy questions and weird conversations than him being quiet all the time. Some of the time might not be bad though.
Has she seen UP recently? We saw it last night and Indy was calculating how many balloons it would take to lift our house off the ground.
What a wonderful story!
LOVE IT.
Is it weird that I am actually looking forward to these kinds of conversations with my kids?
Whatever you do, don’t take them to see the movie “Up”.
see you next week!
oh, my! i absolutely love this post!!! how precious! (did she see “up”?? lol!)
thanks for sharing and making me smile!
ooohhhhh…it makes me laugh. knowing “her” and knowing you. and knowing the expressions that you would both have. and i absolutely love you saying, “i know all the noises”. classic. i mean with how sensitive you are to noises, you just might know ALL the noises. ever.
i loved it. thanks for bringing such a profound truth to us simply and childlike.
huge nugget of somethin’ I needed to hear in there…. thanks