Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Status Symbols

Tonight when I came home, I was greeted with the news that my daughter had accidentally washed her iPod. She was, understandably, full of regret and sad over her mistake. She is a responsible child, a GATE student who regularly earns A's, helps around the house and even does her own laundry. Which, by the way, is how the iPod got washed. She decided to wash a load of clothes and her iPod was in the pocket of her jeans.

I walked into her room and gathered her up in my arms. She looked at me and asked if I thought it might play again once it dried out. (If anyone knows the answer to that one, please leave me a comment.) I told her I wasn't sure but we could certainly try it over the weekend. Then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Well, it's just a thing. It's not like something bad happened to you." My eyes filled with tears because this child has lived through losing her father and it wasn't until tonight that I realized how much that had impacted her. She is human, though, and the iPod was her "status symbol". It was the thing that made her feel cool and part of her crowd.

I guess we all need status symbols on some level. The important thing is that we don't let our status symbols become the most important thing in our lives. As my daughter said, it's just a thing.

5 comments:

Nubia said...

Sorry about the iPod. But it's a wonderful thing to know that she has learned from her upbringing that it's only a thing. Makes it worth the effort to see that she deserves a replacement.

Hope the surprise comes in the near future!

Anonymous said...

I would buy her a new one before the day is over.She realizes it is only a material posession, and made a simple mistake.

I would replace it because of being humble, sorry, and being HONEST about how it was ruined.

Lastly music is soothing to the heart.

MR.OC

Anonymous said...

my wife washed my son's ipod shuffle just the other day and it wouldn't work. after sitting for a day i picked it up and it started working again. hope you have as good of luck.

Jade said...

I decided last night that if the washed one didn't work, I'd buy her a new one tonight. Thanks for all your input! I'm happy to report that this morning, after letting the iPod dry out over night, it worked! She is so happy now.

Nubia said...

See how HE works when we follow in HIS footsteps?!!!!! I wish this humble attitude for ALL of our future generations!

Kudos to your Sweet Baby Girl for being the humble child that she is. Rewards come to those who believe.

Nubia