My sweet girls.
How I want them to know that real life isn’t perfect. It isn’t rosy and cheerful all the time.
Sometimes, life is messy and hard and painful.
And… no matter what… we can find joy in our days because they are made by God.
Well, this lesson came in a funny fashion the other day.
Elayna had just very painfully lost a tooth. A molar. and it bled and bled and bled.
She was not a happy kid.
“Mom!” she cried. “That hurt! How come when kids loose teeth on TV it looks like it just pops out?”
Sniffling, she went on, “On TV, it doesn’t bleed or hurt and the kids don’t cry. But that hurt! Really bad! And, it is still bleeding!”
Her words were mumbled as she tried to cry and talk at the same time with a nasty, bloody paper towel hanging out of her mouth.
Really… a moment only a mother could handle.
She looked at me, expecting an answer. Her eyes full of tears with disillusionment shining through.
My answer?
Inside, I’m crying with her, thinking, “You should see how women have babies on TV!”
But, instead, I said, “You are so right, baby. Loosing a tooth in real life is messy and painful. I know it doesn’t look that way on TV but most things aren’t as they seem on TV.”
We went on to talk about how girls look on TV and how families look on TV and how everyday life looks on TV.
That isn’t reality.
That is a made up, pretend life that we do not have to strive for or compete with…
We are living a real, messy, sometimes painful, very joyful, always full and busy life!
A life given to us by God.
A life He has blessed us with… we can enjoy each day knowing that it was created by Him for us.
It isn’t meant to be perfect. It isn’t supposed to look like TV.
It is meant to be real, allowing us to learn as God shapes our character through the every day moments of life.
Real life.
You have such a beautiful family! Great answer to a great question. So true that so many people, TV, etc. only show the rosy side of life. It’s so much better when you can show how to praise God through the trials! God bless you and your family 🙂
Thank you! Yes, we need to praise God and teach our kids to praise Him in all things!
Wonderful post, and so true! I’m at fault for trying to live that TV life sometimes and then get upset when it doesn’t turn out just so. Why do we do that to ourselves? haha My kids have come to me with simalar questions about live. The look on their face when they finally “get it” makes me giggle sometimes. For years my daughter truely thought that all mothers were suppose to be perfect, always pretty, happy, full of joy, always have it together in every way, ect… She had been disapointed and emmbarssed of me as I’m not even close to those traits! When it finally came out that this was the picture she had painted for me we were able to set a few things straight!
Oh, I know! We can’t possibly live up to those expectations! We need to set real life examples for our girls so they know how to grow into real women of God. So glad you were able to have that conversation with your daughter!