Where there is Peace...

If you have children you know something very basic, the moment they start talking they don't really stop. Sure they take a breath or perhaps have something to drink, but those are small obstacles for a child that has something to share, even if it's absolutely nothing.

The older that kids get, the more nothing they have to say.

Grace, my six year old, is blessed with the ability to continually carry on about anything that pops into her head. I don't think she was born with that filter that most adults have and children begin to learn early on. This can lead to some very tense moments when we've had to teach the value of being polite. There are other times though when what comes out of her mouth is nothing but pure gold and we sit and cackle like mad scientists who have perfected the ultimate experiment.

One of those times happened about a month ago.

I was off of work and went to pick up Grace from school. Jacob (the terrorist) was in the car with us and we took the shortest route between two points. However, as any parent will tell you, any road trip is going to be filled with non-stop chatter, even if it makes no sense.

For the majority of the voyage she'd been talking about her friends, the things that they'd done today and some of the lessons that she'd been taught that day. Then the following exchnage happened:

Grace: Daddy?
Me: Yes?
Grace: Today we learned about PEACE! I love PEACE!
Me: Really?
Grace: Yea I think it's great!
Me: What is peace?
Grace: Peace is like, when Jacob's asleep and no one's talking and I can just say anything I want and no one will interrupt me and I can just talk on and on and everyone will listen and then I can be happy!

(Note: I realize that the above caption for Grace is a complete run on sentence but it is how she speaks.)

Me: That's very nice sweetie but that's not really peace.
Grace: It isn't?
Me: (chuckle) No honey. Peace is when no one is talking, there's no noise and you just enjoy the silence. You try not to break the silence so you can enjoy the peace.

I looked in the rearview mirror and watched her come to terms with what I had just explained.

Grace: I don't like peace anymore.


Sigh, someday she'll appreciate it.