sad and happy

For the last month or two, Esther has been naming feelings. So far, she can describe herself as sad, happy or excited. So here are a couple of vignettes about her being sad and happy. The first one I've been reluctant to put down on paper because it's such an "I-should-have-known-better" moment...but I knew going into this that I was going to hurt her sometimes, despite my best intentions, so I guess I can be honest about it. :-( The second story, hopefully, will be an antidote!

Sad

I was trying to rinse a couple of items of clothing out in the bathroom, but a task that should have taken less than two minutes was dragging on and on because I had to keep dropping the clothes and turning around to get Esther out of some mischief. Finally, I said (calmly), "I think I'd do better without you," and I put her outside and closed the door. After quickly finishing my task, I went to look for her and found her leaning against the couch, sobbing her little heart out. Poor baby! Of course I held her and reassured her that I love her and all I was trying to do was finish my task without interference. But I still regret my choice of wording.

Happy

When I put Esther to bed, I often tell her, "I love you, and Daddy loves you, and Jesus loves you most of all." Sometimes we add other people into the list, too. So several weeks ago I told her, "I love you." She responded, "Daddy wuvs you?" "Yes," I agreed, "Daddy loves you." She asked, "People?" Again, I agreed, "Yes, lots of people love you!" And she said, "Happy."