One fine September day, the girl child had the sniffles and a fever. It was a school day.
Not just any school day. It was Friday, a special day, the day of the Tea Party. A day most eagerly anticipated.
The sick child was made to stay home. To rest. To miss the Tea Party.
She cried.
The mother soothed. The mother made an offhand, un-thought-out promise to the crying child. Something about a tea party. The girl was noncommittal. The mother was subconsciously relieved.
Later, the child remembered the promise. Asked sweetly, Mommy, when are we going to have our tea party?
The mother was noncommittal.
It was raining. The mother was tired. Nobody felt well. Was that the beginning twinge of a headache? To let her child down, to break the offhand, un-thought-out promise, would not have been unexpected. I rather believe it was expected. It would have been forgiven.
But...
I went to the store. In the rain. For tea party supplies. Namely,tea limeade. And cookies. Specifically, Central Market Cranberry Walnut cookies. So. Very. Yummy.
A special table was set, complete with flowers (faux). Individual china tea cups were chosen. We dressed up. I wore a dress. Not nice slacks and a fancy blouse. A real dress. The boy was invited. He dressed up (voluntarily).
We drank our fake tea. Weate gobbled our cookies. We laughed. The girl's heart was cheered. We chatted. We took goofy pictures. When the fake tea was spilled, we laughed. The girl's heart was cheered.
The girl smiled. The mother's heart was cheered.
I must confess to you that I am proud of this moment. Because, quite frankly, I rarely live up to my own expectations. But every now and then, I stumble upon some hidden virtue within myself and manage to do something I feel proud of. It was admittedly a small thing, a fleeting moment in our lives.
I cling to these moments.
But then, it's really not about me. I am ever increasingly thankful for my children. For their gentle, believing, forgiving hearts. For their unwavering, persistent faith in me, their mother, to get it right.
Not just any school day. It was Friday, a special day, the day of the Tea Party. A day most eagerly anticipated.
The sick child was made to stay home. To rest. To miss the Tea Party.
She cried.
The mother soothed. The mother made an offhand, un-thought-out promise to the crying child. Something about a tea party. The girl was noncommittal. The mother was subconsciously relieved.
Later, the child remembered the promise. Asked sweetly, Mommy, when are we going to have our tea party?
The mother was noncommittal.
It was raining. The mother was tired. Nobody felt well. Was that the beginning twinge of a headache? To let her child down, to break the offhand, un-thought-out promise, would not have been unexpected. I rather believe it was expected. It would have been forgiven.
But...
I went to the store. In the rain. For tea party supplies. Namely,
A special table was set, complete with flowers (faux). Individual china tea cups were chosen. We dressed up. I wore a dress. Not nice slacks and a fancy blouse. A real dress. The boy was invited. He dressed up (voluntarily).
We drank our fake tea. We
The girl smiled. The mother's heart was cheered.I must confess to you that I am proud of this moment. Because, quite frankly, I rarely live up to my own expectations. But every now and then, I stumble upon some hidden virtue within myself and manage to do something I feel proud of. It was admittedly a small thing, a fleeting moment in our lives.
I cling to these moments.
But then, it's really not about me. I am ever increasingly thankful for my children. For their gentle, believing, forgiving hearts. For their unwavering, persistent faith in me, their mother, to get it right.
2 comments:
Aww, beautiful! I have yet to have a tea party with my daughter. I would not even know where to begin, so thank you for the instructions. Long ago I casually mentioned to the children that my daughter and I would have a tea party with other mother-daughter combos while dad and son went to baseball game. My son reminds me of this plan regularly! It does not take much to make these wee ones so happy, does it?! Thanks for the reminder that we should take the time to do it for them.
Good for you! I totally get that temptation to NOT go the extra mile, NOT follow through on an idle promise -- sometimes it's just (or it seems) too much. I'm so glad you did it, and even got to enjoy it! And take pictures! What wonderful memories you three will have.
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