When I first laid eyes on Teneka and Khloe, it was love at first sight. Khloe was a tiny swaddle of a sleeping newborn, and Teneka was an adorable, smiley five-year-old with enough energy for all of us. Teneka and Khloe were accompanying their mom, Nicola, who had come by to take a look at a cute little house that we were in the process of cleaning, painting, and sprucing up for rent.  Nicola loved the house, we loved her and her girls, and it was a match made in heaven.

That was five years ago and its still a match made in heaven, but even better than that. Lucky me. I’ve watched Khloe grow up into a spirited, happy five-year-old, and I’ve watched Teneka mature into a smart and curious pre-teen, little girls who still come running when I pull into their driveway. I now have two special girls in my life who, if they had it their way, would have us hanging out together every weekend. They think I’m the coolest thing ever. (ha ha If they only knew.) I don’t see them as often as I would like to or as often as I should, but when I do, I quickly remember how lucky I am to have them and make a promise to myself to hang out with them more often.

They are actually the coolest things ever!  By watching these girls just naturally being their beautiful little selves, I’ve realized that they have taught me so much – and they don’t even know it!

Life, according to Teneka and Khloe:

Smile. Just smile all the time. Teneka and Khloe are always smiling. Always. They have smiling eyes and smiling faces. They must be really happy on the inside to always be smiling on the outside. I would like to have an always-smiling face like Teneka’s and Khloe’s.

Accept disappointment and move on. Fast. A few years ago, during the holidays, we were in a plaza and there was the man in all of his glory – SANTA! All little believers make a beeline to Santa, and Teneka and Khloe were no exception. However, the line was at least an hour long and we didn’t have the time to stand in it. I could see the disappointment written all over their little faces. I was disappointed, too. I held my breath, expecting tears and a little bargaining. Instead, they quickly recovered when they understood that we couldn’t wait in line, and we moved on. No crying, no anger, no pleading.  Just an accepting, “Okay”. That was easy. (Whew!) If lightning-speed acceptance of disappointments is a virtue, I’d like to have that one!

If you don’t know how to do it, just pretend! We came across a hula-hoop competition for kids once. Teneka jumped right in and went to town. She was good! And she looked good doing it, too! Hula hoops and happy girls seem to go hand-in-hand. It was fun to watch. Then Khloe tried to hula hoop. Tried. Being a tiny three-year-old, Khloe didn’t have enough to her to make her cute little twirling self actually come into contact with the plastic ring of the hula hoop, and the hula hoop would just fall to the ground. So big sister Teneka quickly came to her rescue by holding the hula hoop still at Khloe’s waist height. Khloe then laughed and laughed while she faked her hula hooping skills and had her own little dance party inside of a much-too-large, stationary hula hoop, held in place by her intuitive sister. I learned from a three-year-old and an eight-year-old that improvisation and adaptation can fix just about anything.

Just break out into song when you feel like it. We were at the movies, a rated G, animated film, Hotel Transylvania. I secretly thought I’d have to suffer through it, but it was actually quite enjoyable and had a great message about acceptance. The soundtrack is what I didn’t understand, though. It contained very current songs that are not on my “70s on 7” or classic rock playlists. However, Teneka and Khloe knew every single song. Every. Single. One. I was impressed! They would squeak with delight when one of their favorites came on and immediately break out into song, singing very much out loud (which is okay when you’re in theater full of not-so-quiet small children, I suppose). Their very loud singing was accompanied by very spunky dancing in their movie theater seats. It was hilarious! I enjoyed watching them sing and dance even more than I enjoyed watching the movie. The best part is: They are REALLY good singers and dancers! Teneka has the moves and the voice, for sure. Khloe loves “Annie” with all her heart and has demonstrated her “Annie” singing and dance moves to me in her driveway more than once.  It wouldn’t surprise me if these sisters grew up to be very talented Broadway stars. What I learned that day in the movie theater from these two little girls is to not be so inhibited. Sing and dance like nobody’s looking, and just be joyful!

Have confidence. We were at the park. After swinging in the swings, climbing around in the obstacle course, sliding down the slide, and Khloe “driving” me to the pretend candy shop in the fake car, Khloe sat next to me on a bench and asked me if she could see my “looking mirror”. Hmmm. So I learned very quickly that a “looking mirror” is my cell phone camera turned to selfie mode. Looking mirror. Brilliant. Khloe then took my phone into her little hands and started posing into her looking mirror like a super model. After clicking about 10 pictures of herself, she asked me if she could wear my lip gloss. Of course. With peachy pink lip gloss in place, she then took about another 40 pictures of herself, each with a different pose. She was so happy in her own little world, doing her own thing. It takes confidence to do that, especially out in public. Go, Khloe! May we all someday come into the confidence that you wear so easily.

It’s the little things that count. Teneka insisted that it would be okay with her mom if I let her get fake nails, and Khloe chimed in her agreement. They said they’re allowed to put on fake nails as long as they do it in the backyard, and the Dollar Store up the street has their favorite ones. So off we went. They each picked out their favorite nail designs, and then, girls being girls, we had to browse. Notebooks, pencils, coloring books, crayons, a Frozen Olaf bracelet, a pink plastic tiara, and of course, the beloved press-on nails brought oodles and oodles of happiness to these two sisters. And to me. Yes, shopping is fun when you’re a girl, but sharing in

picking out the perfect coloring book (Disney princess or Hello Kitty?) and seeing the delight in their faces when leaving the store with their new nails and other new treasures trumps everything. That day, I learned from Teneka and Khloe to slow down and take pleasure in the little things, to live in the moment.

I hope the day never comes that these two special little girls decide (or find out) that I’m not cool enough to hang out with anymore.

What was lovely about today: I ran over to Nicola’s house after dinner today to show her this story and ask permission from her and Terence, the girls’ dad, to publish it on my blog. The reaction from her and Terence and the two girls was priceless. Their smiles were pure sunshine as they read the story. When we were hugging, Nicola whispered that she’s so lucky to have me. No, Nicola, I’m the lucky one. Nicola and her family are extra special. Their smiles are what was lovely about today.