Kids Say the Darndest...

and most wonderful things.

If you read back a couple posts, you will see that my parents lost their pup George just a short time ago. Like I said, it's been a rough time for the family but we've been getting through it.

For a bit, I kept Ariana home and we did not visit gramma and papa's house because they needed time to heal, especially without questions from a three year old.

We've been back over since, and she hasn't been too questionable. Mom explained that George has passed on to Heaven and was with Ariana's daddy. Ariana said, "He's not with my daddy," and mom reflected on a poem she'd read in which pets' souls wait in the rainbow forest until their owners come. Pretty interesting that she would say he wasn't with her dad in Heaven. Maybe George really is hanging out in puppy purgatory until his owner gets there (and let's hope and pray his owner takes his sweet time because I really like having my dad around). Hopefully he is enjoying his time with the other pets, and the rainbows, and forestness and all the other fun stuff he's doing while he waits.

Anyway, back to the point.

So I guess a couple days ago, Ariana was talking to my dad about George. I guess she could tell he was sad and he missed him because Ariana, being the sweet three year old that she is, said, without hesitation, "Papa, you can have my Kinger."

Kinger is our pup that we love very much and Ariana's pretty well attached to. But, without a second thought, my daughter was willing to give her pup to her grandfather because she could see how sad he is without George. The selflessness, empathy, and general beautiful souls of kids is amazing. It also makes me feel like I just might be doing something right with raising her.

Tonight, King was at my parents house with us. Ariana was already there and when King and I walked in she was surprised he was there but not unhappy - King's Here! Then later in the night she said something along the lines of, "King's here in this house now!"

It was like she thought he was staying there and she was helping her papa heal. For now, King is actually staying with us, but I think my parents know that if they want him and need a big pup around, King is theirs.

Oh my little girl. Her dad would be so proud. And something tells me he might have a hand in how awesome she is (I mean besides his 'hand' genetically - teehee) I really don't think he's ever that far from her.

I think we can all learn a lesson from little ones. When someone his hurting or in need, give something of yourself. Maybe as adults we need to learn from children to be a little more giving and a lot less selfish. We need to love one another and when others hurt, if we feel it too, we'll be more inclined to help those hurting (does that make sense? It does in my mind). Feel for the people around you, don't be afraid to share emotion and help carry some of the weight of their sorrows. If we love one another, I think life will be much easier and much, much more enjoyable.

Thank you, Ariana, for once again teaching me an invaluable lesson.