Meaningful Conversations with a Four Year Old

kisses in an envelope
“Mom, why is everyone sad about Opa?”
“Because Opa died, Mija and we miss him.”
“Can we go see him?”
“No, we can’t sweetie.”
“Can we still love him?”
(Holding back tears) “Absolutely. We can still love him.”
“But we can’t hug him anymore?”
“No, but we can blow him kisses in heaven like this.”
“But can we blow him kisses if we’re wearing lipstick?”
“Yes, we can.”
“Mommy. I want to put my kisses in an envelope and give them to his heart.”
(Gets an envelope from the desk.)
“Will you hold this open while I blow my kisses into it?”
“Of course.” (On the verge of losing it, because oh my God, so precious.)
(Blowing kisses into the envelope.) “*kiss* One *kiss* Two *kiss* Three *kiss* Four *kiss* Five…”
She sealed the envelope and as she did an wave of emotions swept over my entire body. I was on the verge of an emotional breakdown of epic proportions. I took a deep breath in, bracing myself for The Ugly Cry when she held the envelope up.
“Mom” She said “can you please hold this? My butt itches and I need to scratch it.”
Emotional breakdown averted.

49 thoughts on “Meaningful Conversations with a Four Year Old

  1. Rachel

    It’s always startling when you laugh out loud from something you read on the computer. Internet-ing is such a quiet activity (usually) so when a sharp, unrestrained guffaw blurts out, it’s..rather pleasant, actually.
    Thanks for posting.

  2. Adrienne

    We lost my mom recently and I have been lurking on your site and commiserating in your grief. Reading this I started crying and then immediately reverted to laughing so loud my kids came in the room to see if I was ok.
    Thank you for that.

  3. Scout's Honor

    Precious.
    Motherhood is a rollercoaster ride. Kids seem to be able to pull the rug out from under us and then give us a illow with their humor, innocent, and precious natures.
    I am so sorry for your loss.

  4. Terri

    Thank you. I woke up in a terrible mood this morning and I was completely down in the dumps until I read your post. I laughed out loud sitting here all by myself.

  5. Helen

    Children are SO wise, when my dad died my 5 year old said ” so, why is everyone sad?”
    “Because we will miss Papa”
    “Well, we can still remember him, he was very sick, he hurt, now he doesn’t, he is well…what’s to be sad about?”
    Sometimes they say exactly the right thing….hooray for itchy butts!

  6. APeetsMom

    Ha. That was a PERFECT Monday morning blog entry. Where can I sumbit that for winning something? Honestly. I was all getting teary myself and then WHAM! Perfect. Thanks!

  7. Kathy

    That was amazing. You daughter is amazing. My 13 year old daughter thinks G is the cutest thing ever. If she is in a bad mood I play the number opera video for her and we both end up laughing. She also randomly starts singing the number opera herself now. I have to thak you for helping me survive my daughters teen years!

  8. tonya cinnamon

    dont you just love her to pieces…..
    shes just keepin it real with kisses and butts 😉

  9. Janette

    First I started to tear up, then cry, and then laugh out loud. That is frickin’ hilarious and I thank you so much for sharing it. I needed it!

  10. Tracy

    AWESOME! Love it. If it weren’t for the toothbrush in my mouth and my desire to keep the drooly toothpaste spit inside, I’d be howling outloud! So great.

  11. Andi

    Found you through Five Star Friday. This is my favorite kind of post because it gets me all misty-eyed and then lets me shake off the tears with a good ole belly laugh. Good job!

  12. Z

    zomg ~ get me all emotional then BLAM!
    If we’d all just follow the lead of these oh-so-wise-kids in our lives think how much more sane we’d be!

  13. Rachel

    that is just the sweetest thing. It’s amazing what they catch on to even at that young age.
    They are far wiser than we are. What a beautiful memory, for both of you.
    Thank you for sharing this and thank you to whomever stumbled it so that I could find it.

  14. stpaulslim

    Love the genuine sentiments of the Russian spammers.
    Actually, this made me laugh because it could have come right out of the mouth of my daughter, too. And she’s 21.

  15. mandy

    OMG, this is hilarious, and sweet. I really laughed..hard, right before I was about to cry! My daughter (3 this mo) told my teenager, who was crying, “It’s okay, Jesus come outta my heart and give you a hug…” and I thought I would just die. But she said to our town sheriff, who was doing nursery in the church one Sunday, “hold on, I have to pick my wedgieeee”..I am so glad he shared that with us at pick up time! Kids are wonderful.

  16. moi

    my cat flew out of my lap from my sudden outburst of laughter. that was an awesome emotional roller coaster.

Comments are closed.