Disappointment

How do you teach your children about disappointment?  I've thought about that this week.  Today in church Kate had a few lessons in disappointment.   During song time names were drawn out of a cup for turns.  Kate waited and each time someone else was called.  As song time progressed her frown got worse and she started wiping away the tears.  My heart ached for her.  Each time a new name was drawn I hoped like crazy it would be hers.  Song time ended and her name never was called.  She was able to participate a little in the sharing time lesson, but she was still sad.  During Gathering Time there was more disappointment.

Each week there is a "star" child.  The star child fills a bag full of stuff all about them.  It's a show and tell, get to know you activity.  And each week one name is drawn for the next week.  There are still lots of children that have never had a turn so it might be MONTHS before Kate has her name drawn.  We talked about waiting for turns, about being excited for our friends, about birthdays and how they only come once a year.

She was so defeated today.  Trying to find the positives in all of this for her was a good reminder and lesson for me.  It is hard to deal with disappointment, particularly when they happen over and over and over again.  I'm so thankful that I'm a Mom and I'm SO thankful that Kate and Alice are my daughters and I'm thankful for all the lessons we'll learn together.