By Xenia S. Estrella
Elise, my daughter, was 4 years old when she went on her 1st field trip in school. They were going to a petting farm and 1 parent — or guardian — needed to accompany each child. I am a single mom and for some reason I couldn’t be there with her on the day of that outing so I asked my uncle to go with her. Elise loves him, but I guess a 4 year old just, naturally, wants her mommy. Anyway, so she didn’t wanna go out anymore on the day of the trip but my uncle, who has his way with kids, was able to coax her into going.
There was nothing but excitement and laughter at the dinner table that night as Elise shared stories from her wonderful day. When she left the table to go to bed, my uncle told me about times when she was quiet and aloof, like in the bus, when the school chaperone was giving instructions over the mic, for “mommies and daddies”, to make sure that the kids are, blah, blah, blah…. Elise was, and still is (naturally) affected by the fact that her biological dad and I are not together.
So, anyway, there were bumps during the day, but my daughter had a lot of fun riding horses, feeding the rabbits, fishing and doing all sorts of other activities throughout the field trip. At the end of the day, as she sat with my uncle in the big tourist bus heading back to school, Elise, apparently was facing her window and at some point started talking to herself, whispering, “It wasn’t a bad day after all.”
Did you get that? There are days when life will just suck. It’s normal. But in every sucking situation lies so much potential for hope, love and joy. Let’s not be too focused on negatives. There is always a brighter side. Find it.
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