Children: Little Miss Butterfly Stickers

Several years ago I began working with a couple who had a toddler whom they brought to the office for every meeting. She sat quietly as we worked through the intricacies of their financial analysis, we talked openly about the hopes they had for their daughter and we discussed the many ways and options they had to save for her education.

Potty training was also happening during this time, so we took a couple of breaks to make sure her bathroom agenda was addressed. Then she sat with her pigtails and yellow flowered dress holding butterfly stickers. She held them much the same way I held the pad of paper I was writing on. I noticed that she would mimic my movements ever so slightly as I continued with my conversation with her parents.

I always have a conversation with the children who come into my office whether they wanted one or not and this evening was no different. She rammed her little head into her father's side and protested my direct communication with her.

After the meeting was over, everyone was gone and I needed my own potty break. I believe I was already potty trained at this time. I walked into the bathroom and on the walls about 2 to 3 feet high, the paper holder, the bottom of the sink, and the floor there were glittery butterfly stickers. Since I had a few seconds to think about the redecorating that had occurred in my bathroom I realized something very important.

This little girl doesn't really care who I am or what I am doing with her parents, but she and her parents were depending on me to give them direction and advice so that Miss Butterfly Stickers could go to college and become a happy and productive woman. It was one of many important moments that I've had. So, if you are in a public restroom out in the world and see a butterfly sticker that looks like it could have been there about five years ... it just could be hers.