La Pequeña Muchacha

We have a new little friend in our house for a very short stay; it’s a long nickname but we refer to her amongst ourselves as  “la pequeña muchacha.”  She speaks mostly Spanish which has been a wonderful challenge for me; I have not used much Spanish for a long time, but as it turns out, baby-talk Spanish works really well with toddlers!

As we were preparing for her arrival, I was warned that she throws tantrums, does not like to share, and can be unkind to age-mates.  This totally cracked me up because she is 2-1/2.  Sounds about right, doesn’t it?  She has been here a few days and must be getting comfortable because yesterday she pulled my 2-year-0ld’s hair twice and threw a car at my older son’s forehead.  She also tossed an unwanted food item onto another’s plate, kissed the dog on the lips, and carried the cat by her tail.  Yep, she’s two!

When it gets close to nap or bed time — once she is tired — she begins to weep for her mama.   She was ready for nap before I expected her to be so I scooped her up and rocked her when she started crying.  Once she calmed down,  I laid her in her bed where the wailing took up anew.  As I returned from my second trip to comfort her, my 3-year-old (Tinker) looked at me and said, “Poor baby.  She is really missing her mama. That’s very sad.”

I immediately hugged that little three-year-old who is so full of compassion.  La pequeña muchacha had been here for only a night two weeks ago.  At that time, Tinker (a former foster child herself)  had been quite jealous of la pequeña muchacha’s use of Tinker’s toys.  I pulled her aside and explained that the little’s one’s mommy was in the hospital and that she was very afraid and sad away from her.  Tinker said, “ooooh, that is so sad, Mommy!  She can play with my toys!”  From that moment till now, Tink has not said one ill word about this little one who is really not that good at sharing yet.  In fact, when I told the kids la pequeña muchacha was coming back, she said, “Mommy, I will let her fill my backpack all the way up with my toys.”

I used to wonder if it was harmful to my children to have these little ones coming and going from our house, if it was stealing their “toddlerhood” from them.  But I see that it is not.  It is teaching them about selfless love.  We are richly blessed.

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