As I have mentioned before, Aaron has a three year old daughter named Josie. We don’t get to see each other very often, so we make that time count. I have learned that if I just treat her like a small adult and ask her what she wants, she has no problem giving answers. She is opinionated about everything, because duh. She’s a Leo. My favorite little lion girl to add to my collection of leonine life teachers. Leos are special. They shine when you get quiet. They want to fill the spaces in between with their own life energy, and nowhere is this more apparent than at three going on four.
Because she has such a strong personality and I don’t (in terms of taking up every available space with my sound) unless I am in show mode, I just let her drive the bus. Whatever she wants to talk about is perfect. I don’t want to break her confidence, because it is precious. All I will say is that my silence is better than my words in these moments. She loves her world, and she wants me to know EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.
Because Josie is my friend, I want to hear it.
I want to know how school is going, what she’s been doing since the last time she came to my house, and could I have another cup of pretend tea because it is delicious?
Josie asked me to hold her cup and saucer, but DON’T DRINK IT. I said, “Josie, I would never take anything from you without asking first. You wouldn’t ever have to give me some of yours unless you wanted to.”
We got into a discussion about school and at the end, she took her teaspoon, and put some tea into the bowl. Tears started to well up as she placed the teaspoon into my mouth, and whispered “I want you to have it.”
Stories That Are All True 