My heart feels like a crumbly biscuit that's having a glass of water poured over the top. I'm lost for words.
Soggy Biscuit Heart
Soggy Biscuit Heart
"Dad, I'm feeling like a soggy biscuit".
I stop jumping and sit down.
My daughter has had some crappy news today: she's just started the school year and none of her good friends are in her new class.
For a little kid it's a pretty shitty blow.
So we've decided to "raise" her spirits with a jump on the trampoline (😉).
"Tell me more?" I ask her.
She looks at me with big eyes.
"Well, my heart feels like a crumbly biscuit that's having a glass of water poured over the top" she explains sincerely.
I'm a little lost for words.
I pause.
"You know" I eventually say "I can see that your heart is really upset right now"
"But I also don't know ANY kid your age that can express themselves so beautifully - you are a poet!"
Which makes her laugh.
"I do like to write" she tells me.
As we start jumping again, it strikes me that this is one of the hardest things about being a parent: having to stand back and watch as they hurt, and bend and break a little, and grow.
"Maybe the school had to put a few kids in classes with people they don't know well".
"And they know that you've travelled around the world for two years and that you settled in really well at two other schools" I suggest to her.
"And so maybe" I finish "they just thought that you were the most adaptable of all the kids?"
She thinks about it for a moment "I guess it's just another part of my story" she says.
I nod. "Yes. But that it makes it any less painful."
Later in the evening, going to bed, she's crying and upset about her class again.
But in the dark I tell her stories of occasionally being a cheeky little shit of a kid at school... and soon she's giggling.
Then I observe that I also used to have lots of stuffed toys on my bed at night, like her. She's got a great, personal bed.
"I don't want to think about tomorrow" she tells me, "But I'm grateful to have my warm, comfy bed to snuggle in tonight."
And I realise that she's right.
We all have "soggy hearts" from time to time.
But we start to heal when we focus on the simple, good things around us... however small they may be.
I stop jumping and sit down.
My daughter has had some crappy news today: she's just started the school year and none of her good friends are in her new class.
For a little kid it's a pretty shitty blow.
So we've decided to "raise" her spirits with a jump on the trampoline (😉).
"Tell me more?" I ask her.
She looks at me with big eyes.
"Well, my heart feels like a crumbly biscuit that's having a glass of water poured over the top" she explains sincerely.
I'm a little lost for words.
I pause.
"You know" I eventually say "I can see that your heart is really upset right now"
"But I also don't know ANY kid your age that can express themselves so beautifully - you are a poet!"
Which makes her laugh.
"I do like to write" she tells me.
As we start jumping again, it strikes me that this is one of the hardest things about being a parent: having to stand back and watch as they hurt, and bend and break a little, and grow.
"Maybe the school had to put a few kids in classes with people they don't know well".
"And they know that you've travelled around the world for two years and that you settled in really well at two other schools" I suggest to her.
"And so maybe" I finish "they just thought that you were the most adaptable of all the kids?"
She thinks about it for a moment "I guess it's just another part of my story" she says.
I nod. "Yes. But that it makes it any less painful."
Later in the evening, going to bed, she's crying and upset about her class again.
But in the dark I tell her stories of occasionally being a cheeky little shit of a kid at school... and soon she's giggling.
Then I observe that I also used to have lots of stuffed toys on my bed at night, like her. She's got a great, personal bed.
"I don't want to think about tomorrow" she tells me, "But I'm grateful to have my warm, comfy bed to snuggle in tonight."
And I realise that she's right.
We all have "soggy hearts" from time to time.
But we start to heal when we focus on the simple, good things around us... however small they may be.
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