Sunday, March 27, 2011

Carrying the important things


Slice of Life Challenge - March 27, 2011

We are keeping our "almost" two year old granddaughter this weekend, and among all the words she knows how to say, and all the things she likes to do, I am struck by how happy she is. No matter what we set out to do, she is delighted to do it. There are many reasons why this is, but one of them is that her parents ensure that she has what is important to her 'with' her. She has brought a little bag of her cars, from the movie Cars, which she adores. She has brought a stuffed cat, buffalo, horse, and dog along with a pile of favorite books. At our house, when she naps or goes to sleep at night, she piles in the favorites: all the animals, a couple of the books, and then asks for the blankies- which live here. One is a tiny baby blanket, blue & white checked, and the other is a small afghan, made by a great aunt for her mother when she was a baby. Once gathered, my granddaughter smiles, says 'nighty-night' and settles in for sleep.
I wonder, if we could choose a few things to carry with us, what we would choose to make us happy and content, like my granddaughter?

8 comments:

  1. A huge smile broke out on my face while I was reading. My mom always laughed at the huge bag that I brought over when my boys came for sleep overs. I never wanted to forget the "must have's" of the nightly routine. It sounds like your granddaughter is the same. it sounds like she had a wonderful time.

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  2. I love your challenge to us at the end of this post: what would we choose to make us happy and content? My first thought is that it is not things for me, it is people: my family, my friends, and above that my faith. So how do I carry them with me? Hummm...something to mull over on this Sunday morning.

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  3. What a sweet warm picture of security and comfort. I like that your granddaughter has both things that she brings with her and things that she knows she will find at your house. I think I do that still; having my notebook/journal with me is good, but so is knowing that I will find a warm sweet chai at the Art Museum Cafe!

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  4. I enjoyed you last thought. That could be a post for someone. Yes, your granddaughter sounds happy and secure--something that will keep her for a lifetime.

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  5. Enjoyed reading your granddaughters list of must haves. Made me wonder how kids chose the items they do.

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  6. One year a few years ago my husband and I had to live in a motel room after smoke damage to our home made it uninhabitable. We found that the must haves were few. Faith and family were packed into our bag and we had a very wonderful year! Oh, and my computer was there too!

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  7. Your slice and everyone's comments make me think that you could probably tell the story of someone's life through the things they would choose to carry with them at different points in time.

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  8. Lovely. Makes me smile and think of my little ones tucked into bed or content with their favorite toy of the moment. Hmmm, what would I choose? Good thought to reminds oneself during a trying moment of adult life. Keep a few "happy items" around to remind you of happy better times.

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