Blue Sky Crying

Sometimes children are upset by things that make simply no rational sense to adults.   These unexpected responses are not understood, but but are almost universally accepted by those of us who have experienced any time around young children.   Let me give today’s example…

My mother sent our two children postcards in the mail.   The children are always excited to get mail and when we told them they had something from Mimi, they were both interested in what she’d sent—only they were busy at the time playing with friends.

Dinner came and went and the postcards sat on the counter but the time wasn’t right to share them so we waited until after the children were dressed for bed and in a more calm mood.    My husband read the card to my daughter, which read: “This is what the sky looks like from our deck.   We hope you can come see us soon.   We miss you, Mimi and Gramps”

My daughter burst into tears.   She was upset, but why?    She was unhappy because the picture of the sunset in the mountains was of a deep, dark red sky just before the sunlight faded.    She didn’t like it.   She complained loudly how the sky should be blue and not red.    She said she wanted to fix it and where was a blue marker—the kind we used on the calendar that didn’t come off (Sharpie).

I got her the marker and she went to work “fixing” the post card.   Here’s her corrected version:

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Career Aspirations Update:  My daughter asked me in the car this morning, “Mommy, what will you be when you grow up?”  I explained I was already grown up, and I was a teacher from time to time.   My son said, “I think she’s talking about when you’re going to be a grandpa.”   My daughter jumped in, saying, “no, she’s going to be a nana.”