Sunday, January 13, 2008

My hero Emily

Today I took Emily and Kaylee to Ikea. They wanted to go into the Ikea ball-room. (Smalland) As we were waiting in line Emily burst into seemingly spontaneous tears. I crouched down.

"Em, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm...scared...to...go...in!" she breathed between sobs, as only a hyperventilating four-year-old can.

"That's okay, baby-girl. You don't have to go in if you don't want to," I responded soothingly.

I'd missed the point entirely. She took a deep breath and wailed, "BUT I WANT TO!"

Being scared to do something you really want to do - I was instantly sympathetic.

"Well, you might need to be a little bit brave," I told her. "Sometimes things are scary and we need to be a little bit brave." She nodded and settled into a resolute expression that seemed a bit comical on a button-nosed pre-schooler in a ponytail. She was "a little bit brave" and had a blast in Smalland. She even stayed by herself after her sister decided she'd had enough and came out.

Today Emily is my hero.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think she was actually scared of the secret room behind smalland where they force children to make cheap furniture and other products.

Oh, wait, that's Walmart and the Gap.