Difficult discussions

This picture really has nothing to do with anything, but I found it in the basement on the easel. I believe G did it. It looks like one of her hurried robots. But, the sentiment is somewhat apropos.

The boy was not feeling great, nor sounding great, so we were heathens and stayed home from church. While it felt good to sleep in, there is always something missing when we don't go to church. The kids have their best friends there...as are ours. While at home this morning, we chose to get some cleaning done and help the kids ready their book character costumes for tomorrow. S had some 4H work to do for school, so we assisted in that as well. We took an afternoon jaunt to the boy's soccer party, where he received his first ever trophy. He has been holding that thing as though it is as fragile as a baby. I am so excited for him. He is so proud of himself and his team. On the way home, I received a call from someone close to me. We discussed pleasantries and then got down to business. We have a mutual friend who has gotten in some messes. It is hard to watch someone you love continuously mess up. Well, I was talking in code and synonyms so as not to have questions from the little ears in the back of the car. Thinking we were in the clear, I went on about the evening and began to work on goody bags for G's class. S had not yet had real dinner since cheeseless pizza was not an option at the soccer party. So while I set out the candy in little anal retentive rows, I could see the sideways glances from her and knew the wheels were turning. She also knows of another situation with a person she may never meet due to the decisions they have made. I won't go into detail, the inferences you make are probably accurate, but they are painful ones for our family. As parents we want to shield all the bad things from our children, but we can't. Have I given her all the details? No. She is a child and she does not need to know. But I feel an obligation to answer her questions as best I can. It saddens me to know that she may never meet someone due to their decisions. She'll never know the personality, the kindness of the individual when meeting in person. What broke my heart and warmed it at the same time was her response. She wanted to have her Christmas gift money go towards the expense incurred when communicating with this person. While I beamed with pride over this unselfish act, I was angered that it had to be in her thought pattern at all. People make mistakes and some make big ones that they, and their families, pay dearly for. As a mother, I pray that my children will make good decisions in their lives and will never have others discussing their potential demise. I just never thought, after a breakfast of pancakes and a happy soccer party with pizza, that I would be having that kind of talk with my oldest. Thank goodness she got involved in the Halloween challenge on Food Network. I hope that is what stays in her mind...but I know it won't be.