"You have no idea what trauma is. You don't know what real loss feels like. You don't have a clue what it means to be afraid of your mom, and flinch or brace yourself when she comes near enough to tuck a stray strand of hair behind your ear."
Hailey is lamenting the loss of her beloved sticky candy. She has undergone a baby root canal and now sports a flashy stainless steel crown in her mouth. She is worth more now than ever with all that bling.
This morning we were having a heart to heart in which I was telling her that she was not grown up enough to sit in the front seat of the car. She has been sitting up there with me periodically because she is nearly the size of a small adult, and it is easy to think she is becoming a young lady. But this morning she made a decision that was decidedly childish. Not childish in a bad way, but a reality check for me that she really is still a child. When I told her that children sit in the back seat for their safety, and that is where she will be henceforth, she told me that it is just "too much."
Too much? Are you kidding me???
Child, you have no idea what too much is.
Until you have lived a life of ducking when your Mom walks by,
Until you have felt so sick from the chemotherapy that is keeping you alive,
Until you have held your tiny son for the first time while the breath of life slips away in him,
Until you have felt the floor under you rumble and your nostrils fill with burning jet fuel,
Until you have seen the building your father works in crumble to the ground,
Until you have heard the wail of a mother who has lost her only child,
Until you have seen the desperate faces of those holding pictures of missing family members,
You have no idea what "too much" is.
4 comments:
Some kids (mine included) have no idea how easy they have got it. Personally, I hope that I had the power to keep them from ever really knowing what is *too much*
It's hard when they get to that "almost" age. They go through many of those in life. Almost big enough for the front seat...but not quite. Almost a teen....but not quite. Almost an adult....but not quite. Almost smart enough not to say "This is just too much" to your mom....but not quite. LOL! Guess she'll think twice before using THAT line again.
i think that we ALL need a reality check on what's "too much"... eternity in the terrible place of punishment is the final "too much"
And I thought that Ella starting to say that stuff was 'boring' was a big deal...being told that is 'too much' probably would've have sent me over the edge as well...and I know my day is coming...Miss Sassy that I'm raising...ugh!
Post a Comment