***

Tina was standing in the kitchen making breakfast for her family, and thinking how nice that fact was. Cooking was so simple but it had been awhile since she had been able to cook breakfast for them. It was Christmas Eve, it was snowing, her shopping was done, the presents were wrapped, and she was content. She was going to put her troubles aside for the next two days, and just focus on her girls.

She hummed as she poured the perfect amount of pancake batter into a skillet. She glanced at the clock. It was after nine, and no one was up yet. She flipped the pancakes in the pan and looked at the stack of them she that she’d already completed. There were ten or so, and she figured that she had probably made more than enough. Just then, Angelica shuffled in, rubbing her eyes. “Cool, pancakes,” she said, as Tina set two on a plate in front of her. She slid the syrup down the counter to her. “Here, sweetie.”

“Thanks.” Angelica dug in. “These are good.”

Tina got her a mug of milk. It was good to see Angelica eating freely. Yesterday on their day out, Tina and Angie had had a long talk about body image, weight, and the kids at school. Tina was confident that she had gotten through to Angie when she explained that certain things that seemed important now wouldn’t matter in the long run. Things like clothes, and trips, and fitting in at school, and how much she weighed when she was eight… what was important were the good things – having fun with friends, treating other people well, and family. Tina assured Angie that if she focused on all the ways she was blessed, the other things she lacked wouldn’t seem like such a big deal. Angie was a little dubious about that, but Tina was going to work hard to make sure Angie valued the important things in life. Her daughter was growing up, it couldn’t be denied. Tina wanted to make sure she grew up right.

“What?” Angie asked, interrupting Tina’s train of thought.