Seven Simple Words

Lately, life has felt like a whirlwind.  The winds have seemed to pick up lately and haven’t let up in awhile.  There’s tee ball practice, tee ball games, ballet, Awanas, Church, Pre K drop off/pick up, throw in an extra play date, activity, doctor’s appointment, or parent teacher conference, and the days are booked solid.   There are so many that are much busier with more kids, more activities, health issues, etc…  There just always seems to be something, leaving little down time and it can make life seem stressful.  Our stress tends to wear on others.  Others feel it.  Others sense it.  And kids, they are not an exception to this.  Tonight, my four-year-old said seven simple words that really made me think.  She didn’t put much thought into them.  Actually, she spoke them very quickly while running through our somewhat small kitchen as her and MC did their usual evening laps through the living room and kitchen.  I’m constantly asking them to get out of the kitchen when I’m in there because there’s just not a lot of extra room for kids running through while cleaning up.  Anyways, as she ran by these seven words that I keep hearing over and over again in my head were “Mommy, could you smile just a little?”  So simple, “Mommy, could you smile just a little?”  She felt it, she felt my stress, she felt my anxiety and all she wanted was a little smile.  A little smile to tell her that everything was okay.  A little smile to tell her that our home is her safe place.  A little smile to remind her that she’s loved.  That’s all she needed was just a little smile.