Broken Heart

There are millions of things that I am looking forward to as a parent, and there are a couple of things that I am not. Autumn's first broken heart is one of those things.

Every Tuesday night Steve and I watch one of our favorite television shows, Parenthood. I have been in love with this show since day one. It follows a family made up of four siblings who each have their own family. If you have a mother, father, siblings, or children of your own you can relate to the relationships depicted in this show. I have laughed and cried within the span of one episode on more then one occasion.

In this week's episode one of the children on the show, Hattie, experiences her first heartbreak after being broken up with. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried as I watched Hattie cry into her mother's shoulder. As I watched Hattie's mother attempt to console her, unsure of how to navigated this uncharted territory, I thought of Autumn.

I wondered what I would say to my young daughter, who is broken, feels like her world is falling apart and is looking to me for answers. How do you explain that this right of passage that most teenagers go through will pass, and she will be a better person for it. How am I going to comfort my daughter when I know, as soon as that first tear runs down her check, one is going to run down mine?

So as I sat on the couch, watching and crying, I took mental notes of what I am going to need to be able to do and say to help mend my baby's first broken heart, while my heart is breaking for her.