Emma learned the power of the written word very early on. As soon as she learned to write her name, we found it stamped all over the house. We would get little notes on our pillow that were somewhat unintelligible other than the bold signature: EMMA.
Over the years we received many notes from her. They were spontaneous and sought no action or reward from us. They would be waiting for us on our pillows when we went to bed or be sitting at our place at the table when we came down for breakfast. I came across one to Peter from a first grade Emma. It read, “Dear Daddy, I Love You! Love, As Allways, Emma.” I found one to me of approximately the same vintage that said, “Mom, I love you. You’re terifec! No hmphs for you. You’re the best mom in the univers.”
Sometimes, however, she was not so happy with us. Emma was an early riser and on the rare weekend morning when baby Sarah let us sleep in, Emma would have to wait patiently for one of us to get up and fix her breakfast. One morning she was running low on patience and kept coming to our room to see if we were awake yet. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. She marched into our room and dropped a note right on top of her sleeping dad’s ear. It said, “When are you getting up for goodness sakes.”
Another time, we got a special delivery note after Emma felt that she had been unfairly reprimanded. It said, “Meany, meany, soskateeny! Do not be mean and I mean it!” After we got over our delight in the cute little rhyme and clever word play, we realized that she was really steamed. The printed hearts that ran down the side of the notepaper she had used weren’t even colored in, as they usually were on her notes. We’re talking mad!
I think there’s an anger management lesson in there somewhere. Next time you’re mad at someone, and I mean really mad, try looking the person straight in the eye and saying emphatically “Meany, meany, soskateeny!” I think you’ll both feel a lot better.
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