Thursday Thoughts with Theresa: "On Braiding Hair and Weaving Hearts"

She sits in the crook of my arm for a good portion of the weekend as we read through Anne of Green Gables. At five, she understands the highlights of the story and may get lost in the details, but she asks for it, and she sits through it, and we bond through it.

These days we connect through reading aloud together, the twinkle of an eye, and an extra long hug.
And I wonder, when did our relationship become so sweet?

I remember how we scheduled our first born's routines by the book and he was so very compliant that we took that method as the golden rule and set out to schedule her routines, as well.

I remember when she was two when her younger brother was born, and feeling that I had not held her enough.

I remember when she was two­and­a­half and we gave her crib to her baby brother, moved her to a toddler bed, and battled her staying in bed for the next year.

I recall trying many of the tools for gaining compliance that worked for her older brother, ignorantly attempting to conform her to his temperament, and she demanding in a fit of tantrums that we see her for her own individual likeness.

And although we had countless lovable moments and loved her the best we knew how through the fits, I still recall those struggles more readily than I do the tender moments.

Then just over a year ago I crept into her room after everyone was tucked into bed. I didn't care anymore that I could be forming a habit of dependency. We sat on her bed and took turns braiding each others hair–she telling me stories and singing words she'd think up, spilling out evidences of her heart; then we'd conclude with me rubbing her back, reading Letters to a Princess, and praying with her. It was no less than forty ­five minutes later that I would close the door to her room for the night.

This became our nightly ritual for the next several months.

Today, we more naturally weave tender moments throughout the day. She doesn't need me for forty­five minutes at night anymore. But when I think about how this tapestry of sweet relationship was formed, I can trace it back only as far as just over a year ago when I crept into her room and began braiding hair and weaving hearts.

I didn't know it at the time how necessary this habit would be, but I pray with all of my heart now that this dependency will continue to be a safe haven of treasured moments interwoven throughout her growing years.

And I pray that we will weave this bond strong and tight as I continue to release what I think compliance should look like and study closer the threads of her heart. 

- Theresa Miller, MOPS Mom

This article was originally published on Mom Heart Online in July 2012


Theresa is a wife and mother of four children (3, 5, 7, and 9), who are embarking on their first year of homeschooling. Theresa has been involved in Sheridan MOPS for the last 9 ½ years, serving in multiple leadership positions, including Day MOPS Coordinator in 2007-2008. She took one year off, then started the Sheridan Evening MOPS group in September 2009. Theresa has published an article with MOPS International MOMSnext Ezine, in addition to other on-line publications. You can find Theresa encouraging mothers on her blog, Heavenly Glimpses.