Broken

So - I gave my older daughter a musical Little Miss Muffet statue that was important to me. I didn't want to get rid of it, but I was purging after we moved, so I thought she was old enough to have it. I was happy to let her have it and knew she would take care of it. It has sat peacefully on a shelf for awhile. She loved it as much as I did. It was one of the few gifts that I ever got from my dad after my parents divorce, which is a long story, but I treasured it so much. I had it since I was probably 10, so 24 years at least. I don't know why I always kept it, but I did. All these years it was always something I kept. But I gave it to my daughter, his oldest granddaughter, and explained why it should be kept safe but that it was hers now.

Well - a preschool age sister happened to decide that today would be a perfect day to start shaking the book shelf it was sitting on. She is 3 and was trying to get the Twilight Sparkle down, apparently. The items on the top shelf fell and the only thing that sustained damage was the statue. Broke right in half. It can probably be glued back together.

I am sad and so is Sissy, but I am also proud. She cried but picked up the statue and brought it downstairs to show me. She didn't hide it. She also didn't scream and yell at her little sister. She showed it to me and waited. I took her example, because sometimes the kids can be the teachers, and just sighed. I called the littles down and let them tell me what happened. We talked about asking for help instead of shaking the shelf and then I let them go play.

Sissy's statue may or may not be able to be fixed, but I did no damage to my children's inner self at this moment. I mean, I'm sure I did plenty of damage on other days (what parent hasn't), but this is not a moment they will remember fear and anxiety.