We’ve been staying in a lovely resort in beautiful Banff,
Alberta. This resort has everything. Comfortable rooms with every amenity.
Pool. Sauna. Play rooms. Workout rooms. Squash courts. Tennis courts. Mountain
bike borrowing. Nearby everything. And happy, helpful people.
The only thing it lacks is a strong internet connection.
Sorry for my rather spotty interaction in the past weeks.
I’ve missed our daily conversations.
On with my story . . .
 |
| Okay. Now picture it lost. |
The world had ended.
Everything is a tragedy when you’re three.
And Little Girl (LG) is three.
I told LG that: It
would show up. When she cleaned up.
“But I don’t want to clean up,” she told me with little girl
logic.
I countered with old lady logic. “Well, when you’re done playing,
you will have to clean up.”
The small lower lip came out and she turned away and
continued to play.
Sometime later, we were packing the apartment for the
inevitable checking-out.
Sigh.
Lego kitty still hadn’t had the grace or good manners to shown
up.
Tears threatened at the thought of leaving the minuscule –
but highly important – toy behind.
A search was initiated. With little success.
I repeated my mantra. “It’ll show up. When you clean up.”
Fortunately, Mom had my back. She nodded. “Let's try it. Let’s
clean up.”
Sighing heavily, the now-put-upon LG started picking up her
Legos.
In a short time, all were safely stowed in their handy-dandy
little Lego-shaped box. The floor lay, pristine and clean.
Still no kitty.
I could see the doubt starting in the big, hazel eyes.
“Okay,” I said, “Let’s move the sofa!”
Mom pushed and I pulled and VOILA a little, gray kitty
appeared.
LG pounced on it and held it up triumphantly. “It’s here!”
She crowed happily. “When you clean up, it shows up!” She tucked the toy in
with its brothers and sisters and packed her box away.
I looked at her mother and we both smiled.
Once in a while, you have a good parenting moment.
And sometimes, you have to wait a while. A generation, in
fact.
I’ll take it.
Oh this is SO familiar to me after spending considerable time with my three-year-old grand-niece over the past month. I will have to remember your perfect sentence :)
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome to it. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen often . . .!
Deleteso glad the kitten turned up - nothing worse than a loved one left behind! Also glad that you had a break in such a fabulous sounding resort :) ~ Leanne
ReplyDeleteHe is a cute kitty. Hate to leave him behind!
DeleteIt was a nice break. Thank you!
I can still (more than fifty years later) remember my terror when 'pink puppy' couldn't be found. We cleaned up, and he turned up. And I still have him - though his pink was washed out many years ago.
ReplyDeletePink Puppy! I can just picture it!
DeleteGreat!! Good parenting all around.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't happen often enough, Haralee!
DeleteThree is such a fabulous age. Glad the kitty showed up after the clean up. It reinforces the message, clean up when you're finished playing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of all the things that have disappeared around here lately, I really wish "If you clean up, it will show up" was a guarantee!
ReplyDelete