Out of the mouths of babes.

On Sunday afternoons, we like to listen to NPR's "This American Life."

Usually, we are at home, and Shaun putters around the kitchen and I kind of listen from another room as I do whatever stuff I need to get done, while the kids hoot and holler and make all sorts of difficulties for us to hear. It's just part of our Sunday rhythm.

If you're unfamiliar with TAL, basically they take a theme each week and explore it with different stories from..well, the American life. It's got a very distinct storytelling style, and is always a combination of quirky, humorous, and poignant.

Last Sunday we were on our way back from a birthday party, the sun was streaming in the windows, and the kids were drowsy from their long day. The car was quiet and we listened to one particular story based on the theme "Parent Traps."

This story was about a young woman whose mother had been dying of cancer, and wrote her letters before she passed. These letters were to be opened on her birthdays and on other significant days, like the day she married.

It was pretty heavy; very bittersweet.

I'm aware of Emerson, sitting one seat behind me. She is a perceptive little girl; sensitive and tenderhearted.

We stop the car and I turn around. Em has a serious look on her face, and she say, "Mommy? That made a tear come out of my eye."

My heart stings for a minute, and I say, "That was sad, wasn't it? You know, when we cry for someone else's sadness, it means we are being compassionate."

She looks up at me, with her sweet face, and says, "Yeah. That made me cry because it was so boring."


HA!

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I'll be taking this little silly girl for kindergarten registration tonight.

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION.

Heaven help us.


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