Gift of Confidence

When something is hilarious, we often hear, "What a knee slapper." But, how often do we really slap a knee? The other day, little Mary did. She belly laughed until her cheeks turned rosy, and nodded her head in disbelief. "How could anything be this funny?" my four year old seemed to ask herself.

Her sister and I reminded her to breathe. "What's so funny?" we asked.

Mary pointed at our white board, incredulously. Emily had printed "W-a-s-h-i-n-g-t-o-n." We remained confused until Mary explained, between giggles, her observation: "Emily doesn't know how to print as good as me. She wrote "M" upside down." 

Because Mary knew how to print the "M," in her name, it was clear to her that "W" did not exist, and that Emily needed help. We played along and asked her to show us how to print "M" correctly. Mary sighed at our slowness, and proudly showed her older sister how to print "M" right side up.  Oh, to have that joyful confidence again.  Wouldn't it be wonderful?

   "M" upside down