Conversations with Christin

As you might imagine, with three little girls around and a Mommy who likes to talk, sometimes it can be hard for us to all patiently wait our turn to speak what's on our minds. Christin is particularly frustrated with this because her verbal processing skills are as quick as her sisters', and they often have more to say. But she still wants her turn!

Sometimes when everyone is trying to talk at once, Christin will give an quick, emphatic, "SHH!" while pointing at the person who is speaking while she wants to speak. This is usually met with some laughter, though it's on the verge of being rude. We'll have to be careful about that! But it expresses her thoughts accurately..."please be quiet! It's my turn!"

Recently after a nap, instead of just getting up and making her way out of her room, I heard Christin crying a bit and talking to herself in her bed. I went to see what was the matter. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Christin, did you wake up? You don't need to cry! [hugs]

Christin: [snuffles and smiles]

Me: Do you want to keep on sleeping or do you want to get up and play?

Christin: I want to talk!

Me: Really? What do you want to talk about?

Christin: I want to tell a story.

Me: Ok, tell Mommy your story and I will listen. What is the story about?

At that point she launched into a long story which had to with her waking up because Chloe got off the bed and left the room, so when the door opened she saw light out in the hall, and that woke her up, but she was glad that the pictures didn't fall off the wall (previously we had trouble with some framed cross-stitched pieces falling and breaking, very startling for everyone!), and on and on she went. I was so surprised that she could sustain her train of thought for this long!

Isn't it funny that talking was more important to Christin in that moment than sleeping or playing? She's my verbal girl! It's been so precious to see her using those verbal skills also for Scripture memory...she's keeping even with Clara Anne and Chloe in number of verses memorized (we work on them all together). How sweet it is to hear her little voice saying things like "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimonies of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7."

Christin makes us laugh almost every day with her funny sayings. Now if only everyone else would quiet down enough to hear them--it's her turn to talk!