People watching in Church

Yesterday as I sat in Church, and yes listening to the speakers I was watching a young mother sitting a few rows in front of us.  My attention was drawn to her because her little girl, maybe 3 was playing with her hair. I first saw that as she was playing with her mom's hair, she would pick up a strand, cross it over another, pick up another strand and cross it the other way - obviously thinking (or trying) to braid the hair strands. After a while, she tried other various do's (mostly don'ts of course) all with much care and tenderness. The mom was very patient through barretts, clips, do's to one side and then the other all without benefit of a brush or comb. I was struck by this mom's ability to let her little girl do all this, it kept her quiet and occupied all through the meeting without ever saying no - don't do that. I'm sure when mom arrived that day she had taken time to do her hair. I'm sure when she left the meeting it didn't look anything like it had when she got there. It didn't look bad after all the styling, just not the same. I know everyone can't do that, we all don't have the ability to not mind the hair changing thing, but for her it was time and a closeness that I know her daughter benefited from. It was a nice thing to witness.  The speakers were good too, but I got just as much from the lesson I learned from this sweet mom and her daughter.