Finding my daughter in a melancholy mood one afternoon and finding nothing that would satisfy her or bring her out of her black cloud, I asked one last time what could possibly be the matter. She finally huffed and broke out with a tearful story of how a friend had told her super top secret, secret that she liked a boy in her class (primary school – BRUTAL!). Not wanting to make light of it and remembering a few of my own elementary tragedies, I tried to rush to the rescue with some life altering advice. I came up with nothing. “Just ignore her” was about the only words of wisdom flashing in my mind. But try giving a second grader this advice and…GOOD LUCK.
Yellow is not my favorite color. (Nothing personal – I love most all colors. But yellow had just never been on the upper level of my list.) Today, ironically, I found it lending its beauty to my use. “Sweetie, sometimes you just have to look for the yellow in things.” OK–I've probably heard that in some movie somewhere, right? And if I had not heard it somewhere else before – what was I thinking!? How in the world was I going to explain my way out of this verbage! Oh well – it worked! I explained that, let’s face it – sometimes people are just jerks. They are going to let you down or disappoint you (we’ve all been on the receiving end, if not the giving, at times). You can’t control what others say, only how you react. (Not anything new to any of you, but to a 2nd grader – it was is as if I were a sage.) I continued...when life stinks, you just have to look for something good, something “yellow”. Yellow is the color of a beautiful flower, the sun, a cute little baby chick - lots of pretty things. Ok, I’m not a poet or heart warming prose writer, but it was enough to get us through this episode and onto the next.
We still occasionally remind one another to “look for the yellow”. Yes, on those days when life stinks – look around to find your yellow (sometimes, you may have to look extra hard, but I hope you’ll find it).
2 comments:
i can TOTALLY understand this!!!! my daughter is also in 2nd grade and can be rather dramatic at times.... every day seemed to be bringing with it, a new best friend, because the old one did something that she didn't like, or ran away from her when she wanted to play.... we've had several conversations about how kids (and people) are just FLAT OUT MEAN sometimes.... we went on (more therapeutically) about how it all stems from somewhere.... we talk about her being mean to people, and how she says "mom, i wouldn't EVER want to hurt someone's feelings, because I know how it feels....." WHOA! flashback to MY elementary school days when the boys would play keep away with my glasses and call me four eyes, or when i totally got beat up in 3rd grade by a boy who chased me to kick the heck out of me. people suck! there's no other way to say it. people are mean, and there's no avoiding that. i liked your yellow story.... so begins the lesson on "actions speak louder than words." and "if you really want something to be a secret, then tell mom and no one else." haha. okay, so maybe that last one really isn't a real lesson, but it works for us! haha. i hope things are much better for her and she's found the "yellow" things. (just hopefully it wasn't yellow snow) ;)
Sorry about your elementary days!! I once had a diva slap my glasses off trying to be the queen of 6th grade - I got up and took a swipe at hers - but don't tell anyone! We were actually friends after that but it's amazing what people will do to try to impress others. And yes, I think the quest for yellow is an ongoing one. But we all find it, when we look. Hope your days are full of yellow - but I agree - not yellow snow! Ewww!
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