EXPECTATIONS!
I went on a bus trip with some friends the other day. We stopped at the Ice Cream Shop on the way home. It was a hot day and I joined the lineup. I was gazing at the long list of flavours when excited little voices joined the queue behind me. Three happy little girls who could not stand still were flitting around their mom.
Prettily dressed for summer and chatting gleefully they delighted us. Two of them were twins about two years old and another little girl was about year older.
“We can get ice cream,” said their mom, “but it’ll be a long wait! Are you sure you want to stay? We don’t have to. We can leave if you like.”
“We can wait,” chirped one of the twins, and all three bounced in eagerness for the expected treat.
I turned and asked, “Do you think ice cream is worth waiting for?”
“Oh yes!” said the chattier twin. “I’m getting bubble gum ice cream!” Suddenly she wrapped her little arms around my legs and gave me a big hug. Surprised, I wrapped my arms around her and returned the favour.
“Oh I’m so sorry!” said the mom.
Don’t apologize!” I protested. “She gave me a lovely gift!”
“They just seem to hug everyone they meet. The twins were born at the beginning of COVID,” she explained. “They haven’t seen other people except for close relatives and so they have learned to hug everyone.”
She was a good mom, making sure her little girls were not exposed to the nasty flu virus. But like so many concerned moms who were caring for newborns at that time she worried that her children would grow up socially backward, unable to relate well to others in the world. These three little girls did not appear to be socially backward at all!
Some of us look ahead to potential problems and they nag away at us. Then, when the time comes, the imagined challenge is not how we imagined it would be! We are poor fortune tellers! The problem dissolves or the problem morphs or friends come alongside to help or we let go of what we cannot manage and others, competent and willing, guide us through, Then we remember how we were that competent and willing guide for someone else and realize that we take turns in this team effort of living life together.
As my Dad used to say, “Cheer Up! It might never happen!”
by Andrea Kidd
