Our Little Problem Solver

Orange felt star on floor

“Mommy, look, an orange star!” Ella exclaimed to me as she approached me from across the room and saw on our hardwood kitchen floor the smallest of orange, felt stars that had fallen off of Cal’s Frankenstein bookmark.

“I see it!” I responded with the excitement that only a mom can muster over insignificant things and non-events.  I’ve gotten pretty good at this over the past couple of years.

She continued to make her way to me, sitting on the bottom of the staircase to put on my shoes.  It was Saturday morning, and we were getting ready to head outside to rake some leaves.  I say “we” and mean “we” – the kids actually helped… or tried to help.

Anyway, she and I exchanged some hugs and kisses after she reached me.  She then turned around, looked toward the kitchen and said, “Where is it?”

I knew exactly where it was, but she wasn’t looking for a response from me; rather, she was just wondering it herself.  Where was that orange, felt star?  Hmm… I saw her thinking.

She then stepped toward where she remembered it being but didn’t see it.  Without saying a word or skipping a beat, our little problem solver then walked around the island, then parallel to the sink, then around the kitchen table and toward me.  This was the exact same path she had taken when she stumbled on that orange felt star the first time.

A couple of steps shy of it, she saw it.  “There it is!” she exclaimed, pointing at it.  This time she didn’t seek recognition from me.  She was simply satisfied she hadn’t lost track of it and then proceeded to dart off and play with “Big Baby” (the larger of her two baby dolls).

I found this to be really remarkable and actually worthy of genuine excitement that went unexpressed.  Ella figured out on her own HOW to find what she knew she had seen moments earlier and then found it.  If she’s anything like her mother, this will be a very practical, frequently-used skill when she has kids of her own.