Chapter 15 - THE TEA
For almost a year, I stopped drinking tea.
Coffee only.
Then one afternoon Lily noticed.
“Nora made tea bad?”
“She used tea to hide something bad.”
“Tea didn’t do it.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
She was six.
Already irritatingly correct.
We made tea together.
Sealed bags.
Hot water.
Honey.
She watched me drink.
“Scared?”
“A little.”
“Me too.”
We sat.
Nothing happened.
Tea became tea again.
Not immediately.
But repetition helps.
Lily’s therapy addressed other things.
Fear of uniforms.
Food insecurity.
Compulsive cleaning.
She would straighten cushions before asking for snacks.
Why?
“Nora said messy girls don’t eat first.”
We removed that rule.
Not by giving unlimited candy.
By creating normal boundaries.
Meals at predictable times.
Snacks available.
Chores age appropriate.
Food not conditional on perfection.
One night Lily refused vegetables.
“Can I still have dessert?”
“Yes, but dessert isn’t replacing dinner.”
She thought.
“Can I eat more chicken?”
“Yes.”
Reason.
Not domination.
I was learning fatherhood from questions.
May you like
The trust could not teach that.
No board could.
