One simple mistake.
One misstep.
The sky once blue is now grey.
The summer sun was scorching but now my skin is cool and moist.
The world must have stood still.
Everyone must have felt it, because it rocked me to the core:
My little girl's pain, fear and disappointment.
The weight of it.
The gravity of it.
The fact that she asks if her broken arm is going to cost us too much money.
Sweet girl.
She didn't cry from the pain.
But from the disappointment.
For summer plans ruined.
Hopes dashed.
Expectations crushed.
My heart breaks with hers.
I cry for her.
For the loss she feels.
For the worries she shouldn't have.
For the disappointment of it all.
But I wipe away the tears and turn to her with a smile.
Explain everything happens for a reason.
There is a blessing hidden in this disappointment.
Time to search for the silver lining.
To encourage, not wallow.
To demonstrate just exactly how, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
So, anyone have any advice on how to occupy / distract my daughter during the next month while her bone mends and she misses the sleep-away camp we've been hyping for over a year?
Anyone?
Suggestions?
Please.
And yes, I have the perspective to realize things could be worse. Much, much worse. But I'm really not ready to burden her little world with the perspective I've gained through my own trials and disappointments. Shouldn't she be able to experience the simple disappointments of childhood without being told: "It could be so much worse!"?
It could, indeed, always be worse.
But for her, she can't imagine how.