Emma

My newest joy in life is keeping five little girls a couple of days a week. These five sisters all have curly hair, they are all extremely bright, and they all have feisty little personalities. But each of them have unique qualities that endear them to myself and today I want to talk about Emma.

Emma is eight years old and in the fourth grade. She is my little "chatty-kathy." She is sweet-tempered, confident, competitive, and smart. She plays the piano, takes gymnastics, and rides horses. She likes to play with her dolls and wants to be a fashion designer, but is just as comfortable playing outside and rolling around on the ground with the pups or her little sister, Maggie.

One of the traits that I have noticed in Emma that I have learned to love and want to imitate, is her quickness to admit she is wrong or to preemptively say "...but, I could be wrong." Or, "...well, I think I'm right, but you could be right." Her willingness to listen, express her opinion, and still be able to accept what you say and the possibility that she may be wrong in her statements, opinions, and ideas is something that I have certainly learned a lesson from and is a lesson that I think we could all stand a little review on.

There were several times today when I overheard her in conversations with her sisters or was personally told "...oh, wait! I'm wrong! You're right." Her sweet temper in saying that statement, the arguments that were avoided by her honesty, and the example that she is setting not only for her sisters, but for everyone around her is something that I love and appreciate. I hope I learn more from Emma as I continue to spend time with her and become more willing to just say "I was wrong. You were right."