Eva

Eva is a very creative and imaginative 6 1/2-year old.  She’s constantly drawing and coloring, and made Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed pictures to tape in the windows as decorations to imitate window clings she saw at the store.  We gave her beads for Christmas and she is making complex jewelry patterns all by herself.   Her interest in steps and sequencing isn’t limited to crafts.  She’s also fascinated by milestones and how time progresses.  For instance, she wants to know exactly at what age Mommy lost a tooth or learned to write cursive, so she can look forward to reaching those milestones at the same time I did, not fully understanding that life doesn’t always work that way.  

Eva is very orderly.  She likes to know what the rules and boundaries are, and gets unsettled when things aren’t done the way they’re supposed to be.   For instance, we have toys that Mommy has designated for indoors or outdoors, and both are supposed to stay in where they belong.  Eva once got very upset when Daddy let Amanda take an “indoor” toy out to the backyard (a small animal that could easily get lost in the grass).  Dave tried to assuage her mind by assuring her that he would let her bring a toy outside, too, but that made her even MORE upset.  “That’s not supposed to go outside!  It’ll get lost!”  She was crying and almost in a panic before we figured out that she was upset because we were messing up a system that gave her a sense of security.   

Eva had a similar reaction when Daddy gave her 5 minutes on the timer to clean up the playroom the other night because it was late (Mommy usually sets it for 15 minutes, and then sweeps the room with a garbage bag to take away anything that wasn’t picked up.  They don’t get it back until the next day).  “We’re supposed to have fifteen minutes!  Fifteen, not five!” she panicked.   She wouldn’t calm down or start cleaning up until Daddy relented and reassured her that she would get the customary 15 minutes. 

 

Mommy is trying to teach her that things aren’t always in order and don’t always happen the way we expect, and that’s OK.  We can trust that God is always in control so we don’t have to be.