Emily is so much like me...she notices EVERYTHING!! I am a little less observant while I have my camera in my hand. But later when I am looking through the pictures I can see things that I missed the first time around.
This particular picture was taken Saturday night after the girls finished their dance recital. All the girls were gathering with their families, smelling their flowers and hugging fellow dancers. But Emily was far off in her own world. This was not the reaction of a girl who was walking on clouds all day in expectant rapture, awaiting her special recital night to begin.
I did notice her looking off and I asked her, "Emily...what's up?" She looks at me and says..."Mama, Morgans family is not here...she is all alone." She was so devastated for her. My heart was broken too. It was hard to rejoice when you know someone else is hurting. Nonetheless, I was so proud of my girl for her compassion.
In this picture her face is screaming..."Please stop taking my picture mama!!" Sorry sweety!!
I usually can't take my eyes off of them. Each of them are so expressive in their own way. Emily just happens to be a bit more of an open book. She has a hard time keeping things in...her feelings are usually written all over her face.
Being the oldest is a hard job. I am usually looking to her as a guide to how I am doing so far. Is she happy? Is she kind? Does she pray, eat, play, read (insert whatever else us moms stress about) enough? What more can I do??
Recently my friend and I were talking about dating...not us dating....our daughters. And I already want to issue an apology to this sweet daughter of mine because I know things will be , let's just say...haphazard for awhile. The first born is more of an experimental child. I'm glad I have 3 more daughters after her so I can try an improve. you see I am counting on the fact that she is an open book ...I just have to be observant enough to read her!!
What a sweet smile that mirrors your own Lisa! It is a wonderful thing that Emily feels compassion at such a young age being that it is a difficult thing to teach. You must be doing a great job as a mom! miss you
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Danielle! I think certain attributes are just present in some people. While I appreciate thinking that I had anything to do with her gift of compassion...some people just have gifts. I love learning from them!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and taking the time to say something nice to me!!
Lisa
p.s. I miss you too!! Good friends are hard to come by!
You're right, the first one does suffer from the inexperience of parents. But, as we went through the angst of getting our firstborn into adulthood (I was going to write "safely" but I'm not sure we're there yet) and had him frequently remind me of the parenting mistakes I made, and there were some big ones, I could say it never was for lack of love that I mis-stepped. I learned only as a parent that we must all learn to forgive our parents. I hope my kids don't wait until they're 40 to forgive me (because I'll probably be dead by then anyway!).
ReplyDeleteI have some thoughts on dating, too . . . but later.
Kathy