Take my 9 year old. She knows we are moving away very soon. Times and dates are still abstract for her, but she knows it's happening some time soon. She rarely mentions it at home, and if she does, she is very matter of fact about it. However a peek behind the scenes of her life, revealed something quite different. Something quite beautiful.
She had begun writing little notes to all the teachers, telling them how she was going to miss them when she moved. Not only had she written these notes in her spare time, but she had delivered them personally and handed them over with tears in her eyes. Heartwarming. My little girl, so thoughtful and so raw.
For her birthday party she made the ever popular kiddie loot bags herself and when I took a closer look, I saw she had written individual notes to all of her friends, saying her goodbyes. Each one personalized and no one forgotten.
And then I began noticing her listening to different CD's in her room. She has a range of them in her collection and she choses them herself, however she had begun playing ones I hadn't heard for a few years. Again on close examination, they were the tunes from her Swiss kindergarten. She was trying to prepare herself for the switch to Swiss German.
Finally, I saw her write a letter to her new teacher, saying she was looking forward to being in the class. She was getting herself ready.
Wow.
This child had intrinsically known what levers to pull to begin the readjustment. She was embracing the emotion, not hiding from it or ignoring it. she was subconsciously thinking about the future and getting herself ready for it. And importantly, she was taking the required time to do this.
We can learn a lot from 9 year olds. I think I need to observe her a lot more.
I wonder what things I should be doing?
That is really sweet. She has such a big heart and so emotionally evolved. I love that about her. It is so true we learn from kids so much.
ReplyDeleteLauren