Bella, Our Real Life Boredom Buster
Four-year-old Bella and I had a recent conversation following her weekly AWANA (church) meeting that went like this:
Wes: Bell, what happened on Good Friday?
Bella: Jesus died. But he only stayed dead for three days.
Me: Then what happened?
Bella: He came alive again.
Me: Where’d he go?
Bella: Heaven.
Me: Wow! You were a really good listener during the story.
Bella: Yep, I was. (pause) Then I choked a boy.
Me: Bella! Why’d you do that?
Bella: (brief contemplation) I felt like it. But he wanted me to. He said “Thank you for strangling me; it’s a dream come true.”
Her mischievous grin belied the truth. I called her on her fib and she admitted she was kidding. She did halfheartedly attempt to choke a boy, but he didn’t exactly enjoy it. In her defense, she wasn’t serious about cutting off his oxygen supply. Sometimes Bella equates bodily assault with affection. We’re working on that.
Bella goes through life at full throttle from the moment she awakens until she finally...