Yesterday, while in the garden digging potatoes, with urgency my daughter mentioned that she had an important question. I turned to her as she asked,"Mom are we rich or poor?" I stopped, wondering where this had come from. The answer that quickly came to mind was something along the lines of "We aren't either.We're kind of in the middle." However, something in me urged to explore this a bit further. I instead asked my daughter what she thought poor meant and what she thought rich meant. I then pressed further and asked her if we had food to eat at every meal? if she had enough clothes to wear? if we had a cozy house to live in? if we believed in God and had faith? She answered "yes" to each question. I then asked,"so, which do you think we are, poor or rich?" A smile broadened across her face and her eyes lit up as she loudly replied, "We're rich! Mom, I'm glad we are rich!" Of course, this led into a short lesson on the views society has as to what classifies one as rich or poor, but that we don't have to follow those views because we know what makes our family rich.I was glad to have this innocent moment with my daughter. It still amazes me what goes on in their minds while their doing something as simple as digging potatoes!
Later in the evening as I excitedly retold the story to my husband he was quick to point out that she hopefully won't be declaring loudly to neighbors that "We're Rich!!" We'll see. You never know when one of these lessons we teach at home may be vocalized publicly!!
