Friday, August 28, 2009

My Bucket is Full

First, let me say something. I am NOT bragging. My child is not perfect (as I made clear in the previous post) but every once in a while, she says or does something that stops me in my tracks and makes me so proud, I feel as if my heart will burst.
Today, as she came out of school, she saw me and said "Hey, Mom, how was your day?" I must say, that was unexpected. It is my birthday today, and so far, she's mostly been concerned with what kind of celebration this would mean for HER, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear her ask how my day was.
She was also wearing a plastic soccer ball ring. She seemed extremely proud of it, which was why I was surprised to hear her offer it to Reese when we walked in the door. She said "Here, Reese. I'm filling up your bucket."
I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, so I asked her what the bucket statement meant. She explained, "When you say nice things and do nice things, it fills up other people's buckets. And if you do mean things or say mean things, it takes away a little bit of their happiness. I'm filling Reese's bucket. 'Member when I said how your day was? That was filling up your bucket." (Note: She learned this today from her teacher at school. Possibly one of the most awesome things she has learned to date.)
So, I'm melting. Literally. I feel I won't be able to breathe if she doesn't stop with the cuteness.
The night went on and sadly, she didn't spend all her time filling up people's buckets. There was the usual arguing, fussing and tormenting among siblings. I thought maybe the bucket filling was over.
It wasn't. Around 8:00, we headed to the bath. All three of them get in together and it's usually a fuss-fest over the bath toys, hair washing, etc. But tonight, Rhett wanted a toy and instead of taking it from him or throwing it out of the tub, Avery handed it to him. I said "Avery, that was so nice. You filled up his bucket, didn't you?"
Her response was so precious and so profound that I had to run in here and write it down so that it would never be forgotten:
"Yeah, Mom. That's just who I am. I fill up people's buckets."

I know it will end, but Good Lord, it's almost too much for a mother's heart to take.
Happy Birthday to me.

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