My touchy-feely daughter

Today, I took A to see Ramona and Beezus. We’d done all our “homework” by first reading the book. Too bad the only parts of the movie that were actually just like the book were the names of characters, the street name, and the love/hate relationship between Ramona and Beezus. I’m sure there were many other parts that were identical to the series, but seeing as how I’ve literally only read the one book, I wouldn’t know. But, luckily, A is only 5 and didn’t really care that the book and the movie weren’t in perfect line with one another. This means I can still get her to keep reading the other Ramona books – something she actually keeps checking to see if we’ll do.

Perhaps the most awesome part of today’s experience with my daughter was the moment the cat died in the movie. A was so overcome with emotion that — just like her mama — she began to cry. I tried to keep my tears from being too obvious, but it wouldn’t have mattered. There was no element of suggestion here. A was crying on her very own because her sweet little heart was breaking for Ramona. I did notice, however, out of the corner of my eye, that A was checking to see if I was reacting the same way. When she noticed that I was, indeed, crying, she began to get even more upset. I had to tell her several times that I was okay.

This knowledge that my daughter had such a reaction made me think of several things:
1. She’s empathetic – something many kids her age don’t get.
2. She understands fact and fiction. After the movie, she said she was sad when it happened, but she knew it was fake, and she was actually ok.
3. My daughter is going to have the same soft heart that I have. There’s nothing wrong with this. In fact, I’m thinking it makes her pretty darn awesome! 🙂