Tears of Joy?

Eliza has always been a sensitive and empathetic child.  If she sees another child crying, even one she doesn't know, she'll go over, pat the child on his or her back and ask if everything is okay.  If her friends are fighting, she'll try to mediate.  She is the first one to offer another child her toy to keep (sharing is great but this often has a negative effect on the family budget if the toy has to be later replaced).  

Lately though Eliza has been crying almost at the drop of a hat.  She is not crying because she is sad, but because she is happy about something.  Earlier this week Eliza told me that I am the only mom she ever wanted.  And then she started crying.  She said she wasn't sad or worried, but was crying because she was so glad I was her mom.  

Today we went on a museum scavenger hunt with some of her friends.  She had a wonderful time.  After we were home for a bit, Eliza was recounting her day at the museum, talking about how much she loved her friends and then started crying.  She ran and grabbed some tissues and told me she was crying because she was so happy to have such great friends.  Tonight Eliza wanted to know what her name meant.  So we looked it up together and I told her the meanings of Eliza and Grace.  And she got some more tissues and was crying because she was so happy those were her names.

So while I am very glad she is not crying because she is unhappy or hurt, she certainly is shedding a lot of tears of joy.

Maybe I should invest her college money in Kleenex stock.