Short Stories (for Norah and her posterity)

My oldest, Norah, is at the inquisitive age where everything is new, consuming and dissecting information is paramount, and the skills with which punishment is avoided are polished daily.



Witnessing a child work through information logically, at least the logic they are familiar with, is fascinating. Maybe it stands to reason that only the parent(s) of the child find it fascinating, but this blog was created for my family, so proceed at your own risk.

Story 1.
Norah wants to watch a video, as she approaches the the VCR/DVD player she says, "I need to push the big button on the CTR." I say, "It's a VCR." She says, "I know...remember my VCR ring?"

Story 2.
Each child in Norah's primary class presented a short explanation of where their name came from and how it was chosen. Norah's name came from my grandmother, Norah Bernadine. My grandmother and I were very close and she died when I was 12.
Norah was given a picture of my grandmother for class to use as a visual aid as she told her story. A few days later, as we were eating lunch, Norah was looking at the picture of grandmother Norah. Norah said, "I miss my grandmother, when can I see her?" I say, "Someday you will see her." Norah says, "Did she take care of me when I was a baby?" I say, "No, she died a long time before you were born." Norah asks, "Where is she now?" I tell her, "She is in Heaven." Norah asks if she can call her, I tell her no, there are no phones in heaven. She says, "Doesn't grandma have a cell phone?" I tell her no. She looks perplexed for a while, like this scenario is unbelievable. Finally, she asks, "Doesn't grandma have a purse?"

Story 3.
On the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's a few Sundays ago, we drove by the temple. As we drove by the temple Norah asked me if Heavenly Father was Jesus. I explained to her that they are 2 different people, that Heavenly Father is our Father, and Jesus is His son and our brother. I tell her that They are very similar because They are perfect in Their love for us (or something more understandable to a 4 year old). She asks me if They know her. I tell her that They know her better than anyone knows her. She asks if They know where she lives, I tell her They do. She wants to know if They know which house is hers, I tell her that They watch over her all the time. She then asks if watching over her is kind of like They are babysitting her. I wish, it's hard to come by good babysitters in our neck of the woods.

Story 4.
At breakfast Norah wants to know if Jesus protects us from monsters. I tell her that He does. She then asks if He also protects us from ghosts. I said that He does. She then asks, "Well why doesn't He protect us from the ghost at church?" Just as I was about to ask her "what ghost at church?", I realized she was speaking of the Holy Ghost.

Story 5.






Yesterday, as all 3 children played in the basement, I mopped the kitchen floor. While mopping, I heard a loud crash accompanied by a shattering sound. I ran down the stairs to find a narrow table which displays a plant under the window, tipped over and the plant base broken, with dirt and fertilizer projected a good 3 feet beyond the broken bits of clay. I asked what had happened (it was pretty clear to me that someone had climbed onto the 3 ft. high table and knocked it over, I'm observant and smart like that). I received no answers. I asked who did it. Norah and Lulu yelled, "Abram". Since it was pretty much near impossible that Abram climbed onto the table, I asked the girls again who did it. Norah said, "Lulu did." I asked Lulu if she did it and she said yes. I put her in time out and when time out was over I made her help me clean the mess up. Through all of this Norah watched as Lulu cried.
Later that night, when Brad came home, Brad noticed a large bump and bruise on Norah's arm. He asked me where she got it, and I said I didn't know. We asked Norah where it came from and she hung her head and said, "Momma, I didn't tell you the truth". I sure hope that Lulu forgives me someday.