A Break Through!

Anna just came to me with head hung and something hidden behind her back. I asked her what was up and she said, "I did something and I don't want to tell you?" I calmly asked what she had done, and without much hesitation she handed me a broken pearl necklace. This necklace is one that Randall bought special for Anna when he was in China a few years back. Even with real pearl's it wasn't expensive but it has meant a lot to me that he bought pearls to bring back to his little girl.

This little confession of hers was no little thing. Just a week ago I went into the bathroom to find someone had "drawn" all over the mirror with their finger and soap. Every inch of the mirror was covered in beautiful swirly patterns of soap scum. Not a big deal, but I still wanted to know who did it so they could clean it up. With a little deductive reasoning we knew it was Anna. She cried and screamed and bawled, swearing it wasn't her, which is often the case. For some reason whether big or small she has not understood that she should just tell us what happened and she will be much better off than freaking out and lying about it.

So... that's why this morning was sooo big. After she told me I knelt down and gave her a huge hug and told her how proud I was that she was honest with me. Then she told me how sorry she was and she was completely sincere about it. I told her to go play and to leave the jewelery alone. No tears, no screaming, no fighting and yelling. It was awesome. I think we've had a breakthrough!