Life Goes On: Especially When You Have Children

I thought I would change the mood for the time being. It has been a hard week but our other dog, Emmy, has been receiving the royal treatment. Every day I walk her, brush her, give her a treat, let her sit on my lap (she's a 45 pound lab, not easy), let her sleep on the bed (her favorite), take her in the car when we go out and we bought her a big bone and a squeaky toy. She deserves it though. The day after Daisy died, Emmy wouldn't go outside. The day after that, she went to the bottom of the steps, looked around, appeared very lost and came back inside. It has been hard on her. They both got their confidence by being together. A team. When they raided the waste basket, when they barked at the mailman, when they tried to be the one in front when they went on a walk - it was together. I told Emmy we are going to help each other get over this and I really think by doing all of these activities (for her) we will cheer each other up.

As for children, life goes on. My 6 year-old daughter, Olivia, volunteered to empty the dishwasher. I was so excited. Less work and she volunteered! I came into the kitchen and all of the cups, glasses, and bowls were stuffed into one shelf: upside down, sideways and every which way. It made me laugh which is good because it's been so sad around here.

We also watched the movie, The Diary of Anne Frank last week. We had gone to The Children's Museum in Indianapolis and they had a display about her so she knew a little about it. I told her about Hitler, the war, the Nazi's, the Jewish people and those against him. Olivia said, "Why did he want so much?"

Anyway, she was interested in watching the movie since it was on and I thought it would be okay because she's pretty mature for a 6 year-old. Well, she did well with the movie (understanding the meaning) until we got into the car to go and see her friend and her friend's mother. (Her friend's mom is from Germany.)  "Doesn't (insert name)'s mother speak German?" "Yes," I said. I knew something was coming. "So is she related to Hitler?"  Oh man. "Um, no. And by the way, please don't ask her that." 

Later, I explained not all German people are bad. (My ancestry is German.) Bad people are in every race, every country, men and women. I think she understood. But here's the thing: The biggest and most talked about topic after the movie for her was how "icky" it was when Anne and Peter kissed each other.

Oh well. I think she's going to be a great adult human being when she grows up. I have tried to teach her about being kind, caring, respectful, safe, and helpful. As we should teach all children to be.