Thursday, June 14, 2012

Something Uncomfortable: Day 94


Today was Day 2 of our summer preschool adventure. It went so well that I signed my daughter up for preschool in the fall. I’ve been going back and forth on this for months. This morning I felt confident that she is ready and so am I. But that is not the main uncomfortable that I want to share…
There is a little girl in my daughter’s class that cried so hard on the first day that I thought she might pass out. When we got to school today, I saw this little girl clinging to her mom. Her sister seemed to be a hot mess as well. I grabbed my daughter and off we went.
I introduced my daughter to the terrified girl and told them they should be friends. They could hang out and maybe it won’t be so scary. Her mom looked at me and said (as she stifled her own tears), “It’s her first time away from me.” I told her that I understood and that it was going to be alright because our girls are going to be friends.
Meanwhile, my daughter was looking at me with eyes that were clearly saying, “Have you lost your mind, Mom?!?! That’s the girl that cries the whole time.” I just smiled at her and took her to the public restroom where she climbed aboard by herself. Gag! Vomit!!
When we got to their room, the little girl was hysterical. And my daughter kept looking at her with an expression that clearly meant, “Girl, WHY ARE YOU CRYING? Don’t you get it? We are free! For 2½ hours, WE ARE FREE!!!!” They will be friends… they just don’t realize it yet.
Let’s be clear, before I started this Something Uncomfortable journey, I would NEVER have actually approached these terrified people. I would have been terrified and would have silently prayed for them from a distance. And I would have NEVER signed my daughter up for preschool a year earlier then we planned.
When is the last time you allowed yourself to be uncomfortable in an attempt to bring comfort to someone else?

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