Porcelain Confessional

There are any number of things that go wrong in a day, and as a mom it seems you're constantly trying to communicate the importance of remorse for your crimes, what 'I'm sorry' actually means, etc. etc. etc.  I'm not sure how it happened, but I guess something finally clicked with Reese because lately there has been an outpouring of apology and regret.  The funny thing is that it always happens at the same time and in the same place each day: while sitting on the potty.

I still go in to help and talk to her (mostly to make sure we follow all the steps of the procedure and don't skimp in areas involving toilet paper or the proper and sanitary procedure of hand washing), and for several weeks now she's taken it as time to unload her tender shoulders of every burden placed upon them.  Sitting there, listening, I'm impressed at the things she remembers and most of all, how she goes about making amends.  I'm convinced the sincerity in her voice is evidence, not of my own hard work in teaching right and wrong, but the effect a dramatic Disney film can have on a four-year-old.

"Mom, I'm so so sorry I squished Sam like a bug today.  He was really really sad, and that was not nice."

"Mom, I'm SOOOOO so sorry I ran away from you at the library.  But I, I just. . .  really wanted to play Big Bird on the computer."

"Mom, I'm so so sorry I said stupid.  Stupid is a not nice word. We put it in the garbage!"

(One of the funnest parts of this whole scene is me trying to remember and pinpoint exactly when the sin she's recounting actually happened.  Some of them have been as far back as last summer!)

And my personal favorite- the persevering apology that has no idea what it's for only that it's necessary to get her back in the clear and set the world right again.  I only wish I could communicate the bewildered look on her face as the words tumbled out.


"Mom, I'm so so sorry I . . . that you. . . were angry. . . at the store today."