Sparkles
Tater told Filly that her friend at school, near the last day, had told her to say a bad word to the boys. Not just her “friend” but her BFF. So she had said the word and the boys had told the teacher. But when the teacher told Tater she was going to have to sit out for recess, Tater told her that she had not known it was a bad word and that her BFF had told her to say the word.
So the teacher had the BFF sit out instead. And Tater said she was sorry when she found out what the word meant. As Tater spoke, her wide new front teeth gave her that gap tooth look and her long bangs were swept over to one side of her sandy blond hair. She was getting taller and her gangling tan legs were bumped up on the back seat of the little car. Tater had not wanted to ride in the little car because the AC did not work well in the back. But she did not grumble which Filly appreciated. Tater wanted to be good.
Tater was holding on to a paper “phone” that her brother, Mister, had made. He REALLY wanted a phone and he decided to make one for himself and one for Tater and they were pretend “talking” to themselves in the back seat.
Filly also had good conversations with Tater in the car and sometimes on walks too. She had told Tater that she had a smart mind and that when someone wanted her to say a word, she should think to herself, why that person does not say the word herself. She should wonder why that word is not one she knows.
Filly thought that Tater was smarter than most, and that she could use logic and deductive reasoning to support good decisions. Filly thought Tater was a leader not a follower. Filly wanted Tater to understand that even if she thought that she had to go along in order to have “friends”, there were lots of people out there who would like her and she did not have to do bad stuff to be accepted.
Filly even brought up the story of the Pharaoh and how he did not listen to God and did what he wanted, and what happened to him. It was a shocking story, but Filly thought it showed how radically a person can trust in the judgement of God…and the support of God when doing his will.
Filly told all of this to Tater because she wanted Tater to trust herself, and to recognize she could make good decisions all on her own when she listened to good.
Then to be more relatable, Filly told Tater that she liked how Tater chose her own outfits, and how she picked out great clothes for church and for school, and that when she wore make up (Tater pronounced it Meh cup) she used very little and it looked pretty.
It was time to get ready for church so Tater had gone upstairs to choose her outfit for church and Filly was helping little Mister get ready.
There was not time to put the dishes in the sink and there was not time to water the plants, plus it was supposed to rain again.
When Filly looked up, Tater was coming around the corner with her “church outfit”.
This was the part that startled Filly. The “dress” was a ballerina “tutu”, bright yellow with gold sparkles on it. It had a flower in the front corner but because Tater had put it on backwards, the flower was on the back, almost like a little bunny tail.
And she had on “make up”. Gold glittery eye shadow to match the tutu, and sparkly gold lipstick. Not too much…just enough must be what Tater thought.
Filly knew that the outfit would get more than one glance at church. But she also knew that the way she framed her response to this outfit would either give Tater more confidence in herself or less confidence. Kids needed practice making decisions and wearing clothes was an easy decision to let them make on their own, as was choosing what to eat or not eat.
Filly remembered when her own mom had let her pick out the fabric to make her own first outfit and filly had picked out bright blue fabric with big two inch stars all over it. It was garish and clown like but Filly’s mom had agreed it would make a great jumper. Filly did not remember ever wearing it though lol.
So likewise, when Tater looked at Filly, with her hair smoothed and shiny from a sleek brushing, and her eyes sparkling with gold glitter and her gap tooth smile, all Filly could say was “wow, you picked the perfect outfit and you look amazing”. She did not tell Tater that the outfit was on backwards. She did not tell her that the make up was too much.
They got to church and Mister sat happily in his back of the room chair looking at the music. Tater though, went up closer to the front to sing, before Sunday school. and she literally “sparkled”.
