Sunday, March 6, 2011

Built-in Girlfriend

She didn't get much for Christmas this year. In fact, most of her presents were small amounts of money or tiny little gift certificates. The amount of each gift just about enough to buy a shirt.

She went out to spend her gift money at one store and came home excited to show me what she bought, not because she was excited to wear it to school the next day, but because it was for me. She hadn't found anything she loved so she decided to buy something to liven up our living room, a purple vase and some brown decorative rocks.

The next week she went to another store to get something with a gift certificate. When she came home she showed me the scarf and hat set she had chosen... for me. Again, nothing jumped off the shelf at her, so she chose something she knew I needed and made a gift of it.
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I'm not the most physically affectionate person (or the second most, or third, either) and she recently told me we needed to hug more often, and we do. Now before bed she sometimes says, "Let's do this right" and comes for a hug while we say goodnight.
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Thursday morning while I made the kids' lunches before school I was reviewing all the things I needed to get done before Greg's sister arrived in the afternoon for a weekend visit. I listed them aloud and Ev calculated that I had a good seven hours to get everything done. I whined that I didn't think it would be enough (I'm a professional whiner).

Without missing a beat she offered this advice, "First just make everything look nice, then worry about all the other stuff."

How well this girl knows me! I want things spotless before we have overnight guests and struggle every time to make that happen. I spend the day or two before they arrive working like crazy and often end up with not a speck of dust anywhere, clean light switches and doorknobs and organized toy drawers but also piles of books that haven't been put on shelves and pots from the night before that haven't been cleaned. And no dinner ready to eat. Whacked priorities.

She knows that, and her advice (tidy first, then scrub) could not have been more sound or helpful.
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This morning we chatted while she fed Spence and I made sandwiches. Greg came into the kitchen to get some breakfast and listened in as I bagged the sandwiches for the trip (to church) and Ev filled up water bottles, talking the whole time.

It was getting late and we really needed to hit the road and our gabbing made Greg nervous so he said, "Okay guys. How 'bout no more talking; we really need to go." And then, "A little less conversation, a little more action." (which caused me to laugh, and also caused me to have a non-hymn stuck in my mind for the rest of this Sabbath morning)
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Heaven knows I love my husband and my boys, but Heaven also knew that I needed a girlfriend and that's why He gave me Ewelina. I thank Heaven for her!!

10 comments:

MelancholySmile said...

That's how I feel about my mom {still!} It's like we decided to come to earth in the same family so we'd always have a friend.

PS- that's sound advice for preparing for guests. I'm making note of it. :)

Melanie Jacobson said...

Oh, I love this.

Kazzy said...

Oh, so sweet. I think having a daughter would be fab! And I love the line, "Let's do this right."

grammawood said...

How lucky you are to have a relationship with your daughter like that! And how lucky to know to cherish it.

Erin said...

I'm pretty sure this is why God gave me Kaitlyn. Thanks for this sweet post.

Corine Moore said...

What a great tribute to a great friend! I love this... your Ewelina reminds me of my daughter; she is 19 and a wonderful friend! :D I'm so happy for you!!!! :D

Susan said...

It's easy to think of Evie as a BFF when she has pretty much acted like an adult since she was 2!

Sylwia said...

wow, i'm really impressed. how about we set her up in about 10 years with one of my boys? Samuel is 12, Isaiah is 10...

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

What an amazing girl she is, with an equally amazing mum.

I hope to be close like that with my girls. I need to work harder at that. =)

Loved this post. Absolutely loved.

Heidi said...

Hip hip hooray for daughters!