My throat tightened.
“You knew?”
“I know everything costs money.”
“Mia…”
“You skipped buying new shoes.”
She said it like she’d been keeping a ledger.
“I know Grandma had to help with dinners.”
I sat beside her.
“You weren’t supposed to
worry about that.”
“But I did.”
Then she finally said what she’d been carrying for months.
“I thought if you worked that hard to send me here, I should make it worth it.”
I took her hands.
“You did.”
She shook her head.
“I could have worked more. I could clean. I could give things to people who didn’t get them.”
I looked at my thirteen-year-old daughter and realized she’d misunderstood the entire gift.
I had thought I was giving her an opportunity.
She thought I was giving her a debt.
The Conversation I Wish I’d Had Sooner
“Mia, listen to me.”
She looked up.
“I worked those Saturdays because I wanted you to experience something wonderful.”
“But—”
“No.”
I squeezed her hands.
“Working to pay for this was my part.”
I pointed toward her camp bracelet.
“Having fun was yours.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You don’t have to
repay me.”
“But it was expensive.”Learn a Language
“I know.”
“You sacrificed.”
“I chose to.”
She stared at me.
“A child can understand that something costs money without believing she has to become smaller because of it.”
That finally made her cry.
I pulled her into my arms.Book Summer Camps
“You are allowed to enjoy things.”
“You’re allowed to have the last cookie.”
“You’re allowed to choose the horseback ride.”
“And you’re allowed to let someone else help you.”
She whispered, “Even if you worked for it?”
“Especially then.”
