Chapter 20 - Emma learns about favoritism
Emma was eleven when she finally asked Ashley why I had paid for her dance.
Ashley told me later.
Emma said:
“Were we poor?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because the studio had a hard time and Aunt Laura helped.”
“Did she have to?”
“No.”
“Did Grandpa make her?”
“No.”
“Then why were you mad she stopped?”
Ashley did not have an answer she liked.
Eventually:
“Because I had started counting on it.”
There.
Emma said:
“That’s not her fault.”
Children again.
Direct logic.
Ashley told me the conversation because it hurt.
I said:
“She’s right.”
“I know.”
Then:
“I hate when children are right.”
Shared motherhood.
Emma also stopped treating Noah as the rich cousin who got:
everything.
She learned my house had a mortgage.
My job had hours.
My money came from work.
Her dance costs were not an entitlement.
I never wanted her ashamed of receiving help.
May you like
Help is not shameful.
Hidden assumptions are.
