Moving Out

A few weeks ago, it was decided that it was time for Elsa to make the move - out of our room into her big sisters' bedroom. That is - the little girls as they are referred to so as to differentiate them from the older girls - who are in their teens. That Saturday morning we spent hours cleaning and rearranging the bedroom to accommodate three children and their belongings as opposed to only two. Even though it is a large bedroom - it took a little planning and a lot of work. Finally the transition was complete and Elsa was proudly installed in the little girls' room. She spent a good part of the day playing in there with her only heart club dolls with Emma.

While she was busy doing that, I was busy filling the upper drawers of her old dresser with the new baby's things. You see her old dresser is a metal sliding drawer contraption so that you can see everything in it. And it was empty... and looked rather lonely. I arranged a few things in a pretty fashion in the top sliding section and then moved onto other chores.

Shortly after Elsa popped in to visit me and stopped short. She made her way over to "her" dresser and lovingly rubbed her hand along the top rail. I heard a heavy sigh as she stared at the new baby towels, a few stuffed toys and burp clothes. "I guess," she sighed, "I guess, this is "???"'s room now."

Oh, oh! Stupidly I had not anticipated that - but with 25 years of mothering experience, I should have. I assured her that she was still welcome in my room and then helped her focus on the happy experience of moving in with the little girls. She left more cheerful than she came in but apparently it was still on her mind.

The next day being Sunday, her older sister Gabriela was helping her dress for Mass and as her dresses are in my closet, they were in my room. While Elsa sat on the end of bed, facing the offending dresser, she called Gabriela over from the closet.
"Look," she said jabbing her little finger at the dresser. There are "???"'s things. I am just so mad, I mean SAD!"

However, when Gabriela repeated the story to me, she added that Elsa did not really sound mad or sad - just matter of fact. And she has not brought it up since. I think she is dealing just fine with it and is often tucking herself into her bed with her sisters at night, and is often the first asleep.

Children really are quite resilient, especially when surrounded by the tons of love that Elsa is surrounded with.




IGNORE