Little Kirsti never liked being called “Little” because she was just the same as the other kids in her first grade class. She got the name when she was first born and had no say over what she would be called. It didn’t seem fair but evidently it happens to everyone.
Little Kirsti was born a whole month before she was supposed to. Her mommy developed extremely high blood pressure eight months into the pregnancy and the doctors decided Little Kirsti needed to be born….right now!! She was a tiny little thing and her lungs hadn’t fully developed. She spent nearly a month in NICU before she was allowed to go home. During that month she scared her family several times by trying to die. She was just too little to be in the world and it was touch and go whether she would ever grow up.
As time passed and Little Kirsti grew she lost the feebleness of premature birth but she didn’t outgrow the name. It seemed Little Kirsti was going to be “Little” her whole life. She hated that fact. How could she let people know she was a grown up Kirsti and not “Little”. After all, she was six years old and going to school with her big brother. No one called him Little Frank. He was just Frank, or as mommy said, Frankie. She was glad she had dodged the bullet of old fashioned names like Frank’s but she needed to lose the “Little” moniker. (Editor’s note: Little Kirsti didn’t know what moniker meant. She just knew “Little” was a stupid name.)
Little Kirsti would lay awake at night to think of ways to lose that name. She thought if she ate a lot and got fat no one would call her little, but she worried what her friends might then start to call her. Besides, Little Kirsti did not like to eat anything normal or healthy. She preferred to live on potato chips, cookies, and marshmallows. She also tried to always miss the family gatherings around the dinner table. There were rules at the dinner table. These rules were called manners and she had no use for manners. Little Kirsti lived on snacks consumed in front of the television watching the Elmo show. She loved Elmo.
Little Kirsti’s family had developed the habit of being easy on her since she was so tiny and helpless at birth. It didn’t take long for her to figure out she had it made. No one really expected anything out of her. She didn’t have to clean her room very often and when she did no one really expected the room to be clean. She didn’t help with housework and didn’t help her daddy work in the yard. She began to lose respect for her mommy and daddy because of the way she was allowed to get away with everything. They would always be surprised when her grandparents would bring her home after a sleepover commenting on how sweet she had been. She sure wasn’t very sweet at home. Her favorite word was “NO” whenever she was asked or told to do something. She felt she had to show how grownup and independent she was in order to lose the hated name. She also began to make orneriness her standard personality but the name Little Kirsti didn’t go away.
One cold winter night the wind was blowing against Little Kirsti’s bedroom window. The sound
Kept her awake and a bit nervous. The wind had a mournful sound to it and gave her the chills. She huddled up under her blankets and wished the wind would stop. As she wished for a peaceful night, all of a sudden the window blew open and a cold winter wind came blasting into the room. Little Kirsti knew she had to get out of her safe and warm bed to close that window but she waited as long as she could. Finally, the cold seeped through the covers on her bed and she had no choice. She jumped out of bed, ran to the window, and slammed it shut. If Little Kirsti had been thinking like the big girl she thought herself to be she would have wondered how a window sliding up and down could be blown open by the wind. This thought never had time to register though because as she turned away from the window she saw what appeared to be a fairy princess standing next to her bed. She couldn’t believe it. She thought fairy princesses were just imagination!
Little Kirsti was afraid and wanted to run to her daddy’s bedroom but she couldn’t get her feet to move. She was frozen in place while looking into the eyes of this beautiful fairy. The eyes were brilliant blue and very loving. Little Kirsti didn’t know how eyes could be loving and friendly but they were. She was hypnotized by those beautiful blue eyes.
Suddenly, the beautiful fairy began to speak. She told Little Kirsti to get back in her bed because she had something special to tell her. She then asked Little Kirsti what her biggest wish might be. Little Kirst immediately answered that she wished everyone would just call her Kirsti, not Little Kirsti. The beautiful fairy smiled then and asked Little Kirsti why she was referred to as “Little”? Little Kirsti then told her about her mommy’s difficult pregnancy and how she had to deliver her baby way too early. The baby was so small and frail she became known as “Little” Kirsti. The name stuck and here she was nearly full grown, almost seven, and still being called “Little”. She did not like the name one bit! The fairy then asked her how her parents should know she wasn’t still little. She replied, “Well, look at me! I’m the very same size as all my friends and no one calls them little!” The beautiful fairy smiled again and said, “Little Kirsti, I’m going to tell you now what I was sent to tell you. Listen carefully:”
“ A person isn’t judged by how they look. They are judged by how they act. So far, your tiny body has grown bigger and strong. You aren’t the frail little baby you were when you received your name….but, you are evidently still the helpless little baby you were. Your body has grown but your actions, your personality, hasn’t grown at all. How do you talk to your parents? Are you respectful to them as you are to your grandparents? Do you help your mommy and daddy around the house and assume some jobs as your own chores? Do you try to do things right when you work? Is your bedroom clean and neat? Can you dress yourself properly and keep your face, hands, and clothes clean enough to not show everyone what you just ate? Can you answer all these questions for me Little Kirsti?” Little Kirsti sat and scowled at the fairy princess. She finally answered with an angry voice, “I don’t know!” The fairy smiled once more and said, “You do know the answer Little Kirsti. It’s the same answer you give to your parents when they tell you to sit at the table and eat your food or to get ready for bed. Your answer to these instructions is always, “NO!” It’s time for you to grow now. I’m going away but I will be watching. I hope you will remember that your actions tell people how grown up you are...or aren’t!”
The fairy princess slowly vanished and the wind outside stopped blowing. Little Kirsti woke up and it was morning. She sadly realized her visit with a beautiful fairy princess had been nothing more than a dream. She also thought it might be a good idea to try some of the things she had been told in the dream. She went downstairs and softly said “good morning” to her mommy and daddy. She slipped into a chair at the table and ate the breakfast that had been prepared. She hated it but she ate it and even thanked her parents for breakfast! She put away her dishes and cleaned the table where she had eaten. She then went upstairs and looked in her closet for clothes that were not only comfortable but color coordinated. She dressed properly for the first time ever without trying to look sloppy. She did all the things a grownup six and nearly seven year old ought to be able to do without help. She continued doing these things, and more, for many, many days. Then one day something wonderful happened. Her daddy had a group of men coming to their house for a meeting. As each of them arrived, he introduced his wife, his son Frank, and his daughter Kirsti. No more Little Kirsti….she finally grew up.
