Listening In

I love to ask my girls about their days. Some days, it's like pulling teeth. Others, it's like opening a can of worms. You know, that prank can of worms that explodes all over the place and you can never EVER get them back into the can.

Today, I couldn't wait to hear from Big Girl about her day, for lots of reasons, but mostly to hear what this six year-old took away from President Obama's speech.

"Did you watch the President on TV today?"

"Yeeesss..." she groaned. "I had to watch it in my Tuesday class AND my other class." (Big Girl just started a supplementary enrichment class on Tuesdays.)

"Wow! Well, I didn't get to hear him speak today because I wasn't in my classroom all day. Can you tell me about it?"

"Well, he mostly talked about never letting ourselves down. And whatever you do, even if it makes somebody mad, at least they're FEELING something. It's important that you make them FEEL something. If you can, you should make them proud, but it's mostly important that they FEEL something." (Using her hand in front of her belly to dramatically emphasize the word "feel" everytime she said it.)

"So, how can you not let yourself down? I mean, what can you do to make sure you don't do that?" Like a good teacher, I probed.

"Weeellll....you never want to let yourself, your friends, your mom, dad, teacher, aunt, brother, cousin, or anyone down."

"I see. So, what do you need to do?"

"I don't know exactly. Well, one thing I do know is that in life...there's going to be disappointments."

Impressed at this statement, I inquired, "Wow. What does that mean? What are disappointments? I mean, how would it feel to have a disappointment in life?"

"Not good. Like when Bestest Friend and I don't play together on the playground. I'm working really hard to get over that disappointment. You know, sometimes you hit a bump in the road and you have to work really hard to get back on the road. And, that's what I'm doing right now.

"And, well, one thing I learned from Obama (couldn't believe she actually called him that) is sometimes you have to try something new. Like my first day of dance, I tried something that was brand new to me. And you can't just quit if it's hard or if you make a bad grade or something. That would be letting yourself down."

"Wow, Big Girl. Sounds like you learned a lot today. Would you like to listen to him speak again tonight with me?"

"Sure! That will make it WAY more fun!"

This, I swear, actually came from her mouth. I wrote it as true to my memory as possible.

This, I swear, came from the same mouth that later in the evening also told me about a boy in her Tuesday class that has a broken arm.

"Wow! That's too bad. How did he break it?"

"Well, I don't know. I only heard the part of the story that said it was broken," she explained.

"Oh, OK. I know how it is...sometimes your mind drifts off to somewhere else, doesn't it?"

"Yeah! And sometimes my whole BODY and FACE and EVERYTHING is somewhere else!"

At this, I expected to hear that she had been running an errand for the teacher or in the restroom or something. "Where were you?"

"Eh... me and Dance Girlfriend were still turning and talking. (enthusiastically) We do that in Tuesday class, too!"

I am no one to judge. She comes by it honestly.

Author's Note: I still have not been able to listen to the President speak. I can't wait to see how her version stacks up.