The talk

"I need to talk to you about something."
"Okay" with her eyes getting big.
"You are not in trouble, it is not about you, it is about me."
"Okay."
"I am going to move back home to live with my sister. This has nothing to do with you, and I am not leaving because you were bad or because I don't like you and watching you. I like watching you and playing with you and [baby S], but it is time for me to go back to my family."
"Why?" she asks with sad eyes.
"Because I miss my family. If you had to be away from your mom and dad and sister for as long as I have, would you miss them?"
"Yes."
"I miss my sisters and my mom and dad. And you get to see your aunt and uncle and your grandparents and I never get to see mine because I am far away and I miss them too."
"And your dog?"
"Yes, and I miss my dog. You need to know that you are smart and beautiful and such a fun little girl and I will miss you and [baby S] very much, but I will come back to visit you whenever I can and you can come and visit me whenever your mom and dad say you can."
"Okay."
"Okay, give me a hug."
She hugs so hard that she hurts my neck, then looks at me with her beautiful brown eyes, "When are you leaving?"
"Not for a long time, we have lots of time to play games and do art projects and go fun places."
"How much time?"
"About 3 months. That is about 90 days."
"Oh" she says with a look of relief, lets go of me and goes back to her toys.
Ninety days to a 5 year old is forever; they can grasp 5 days, maybe 10 days, but 90 days? So right now to her, we have all the time in the world together.

Comments

cdoc said…
No matter how many times I try, it won't let me do spaces in between paragraphs or lines, grr.
8/09/2006 11:16 AM
teacherwoman said…
Oh cdoc, you've taught that little one so much, I can tell. And, I can tell that she loves you very much and she will never forget you!

Those two girls have been very lucky to be a part of your life and vice versa.... enjoy the next 90 days!
8/09/2006 11:18 AM
Girl of Approval said…
You are such a sweetie. Those kids are so lucky, bah any kids that come into contact with you are lucky.
8/09/2006 8:06 PM
cdoc said…
Thanks everyone!
8/09/2006 8:53 PM
Anonymous said…
My heart breaks for her... she's gonna miss you so much it brought tears to my eyes (big shocker, I'm sure). But you will leave her with such a great foundation for learning.

Now you can come to MT and raise my kids since I"ll probably just kick 'em when I don't know what else to do....
8/10/2006 10:50 AM
Anonymous said…
bdoc -- Don't kick. I think that's bad. Not sure though.

cdoc -- teach big S how to write to you. She'd love letters. Nice talk, btw. Time to begin your teacher ed. program. Seriously.
8/10/2006 1:24 PM
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