MissDirection

Our little girl, who is an angel in every other respect, has been pinching and scratching of late. It's not made her parents very happy, and we've been been firmly and consistently letting her know that this isn't okay.

But that's not what this post is about. This post is about a father's first realization that he doesn't know the mind of his daughter, and it's about a little girl who's delightfully real and true to her nature.


The Scene: "The Corral", Shortly Before Bedtime
Elaina and her daddy are playing in the living room. Daddy's just home from work and still in work clothes. Elaina's in her pink kitty pajamas. But suddenly, she's not so cute! She reaches up and pinches her daddy's cheek. Tiny nails dig in, surprisingly painful.

"NO. No, Elaina. You have to be gentle."

She reaches out again, her naughty intent obvious.

"No," her daddy says, stopping her hand. He brings her hand slowly up to his cheek. "Gentle", he says, brushing her fingertips against his cheek, mimicking something he seems to remember one of his sisters doing with her kids. (Not that any of my nieces or nephews were every anything less than angelic!)

The little girl is transformed! She looks at her daddy with big, black-pearl eyes. Yes, she really understands. With a serious expression, she reaches out to his chest--very slowly and gently this time.

Ah! Truly a meeting of the minds. The little girl's daddy has impressed the importance of gentleness on her, and his reward for imparting this life lesson is her gentle touch--a demonstration of how well she's learned and of the weight that she gives his words.

The little girl's hand emerges from her daddy's shirt pocket, his cell phone clutched in her chubby little fist. The phone lights up under her grip and she smiles, oblivious to her daddy, who's also smiling, replaying the scene from a different perspective: the look in his daughter's eyes, not one of revelation but of concentration; the gentle touch not a demonstration of a lesson learned, but the precise movements of an accomplished pickpocket!

Later that evening, Elaina's daddy has just finished brushing her teeth. He's washing off the tooth brush and is particularly vulnerable--one arm holding her, the other in soapy water--when he sees the hand headed for his ear. There's nothing to do but hope and trust (but really, hope, because this chapter's not over yet).

As her chubby little hand closes on his ear and he feels her tiny fingernails, Elaina's daddy says, "Gentle, Elaina.... Be gentle."

And she is. Her hand lingers for a second and drops, busying itself with the dozens of chores busy little girls' hands have to do. No scratch. No pinch.

"Good, Elaina. That's very good. Daddy's very proud of you."

... "You didn't just lift my wallet, did you?"