Autonomy

autonomy |ôˈtänəmē|

• freedom from external control or influence; independence

For a few weeks I have been working on refinishing our kitchen table. It is the table that my parents passed on to us and is nearly 20 years old. It is big, and expandable, and solidly built. Sadly the finish on the table was wearing thin and so it was time to take action. I stripped, sanded, stained, glazed and applied three coats of oil based finish. By this time it had gotten too cold to work outside and so last Saturday we brought it into the kitchen. By Wednesday the final coat was drying. (I let each coat dry for 24 hours.) I warned and pleaded and reminded William and Anna to not put things on it, touch it, brush past it or even breath too much by it.  Sweet Anna is a wonderfully strong-willed child. While I was on the phone with an old college chum, she took a sanding block and copied what she had seen me do for days and days and SANDED a 2×1 foot section. Fortunately for her I was on the phone so I could only sweetly say, “Anna, I said no touching! Why did you do that?” To which she replied, “I didn’t, William did!” (Nothing like a friend on the phone to calm a seething temper.) I fixed it and put another coat on which makes the table that much more durable (I think there is a spiritual significance to be found here) and the table is done! (left: old, right: new)

Do I feel grateful for Anna’s growing sense of independence? One good thing that has come from it is that she decided it was time to be potty trained and has stuck to it this whole week! I guess I would rather have a child who is developing into her own rich personality than all the smooth tables, and full bottles of ketchup in the world!